Lamb Stew

The cooking method described is the way that I cooked this easy, tasty and sustaining stew. However, it would be just as good simmered on a stove or cooked in the oven.

Serves 12-15 people.

Ingredients

• 4 lbs diced neck of lamb
• 3 tablespoons olive oil (or sunflower oil, or butter)
• 4 onions, chopped
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1 small green cabbage, coarsely chopped
• Several sprigs of rosemary, chopped
• 1 lb (450 g) tin of haricot or borlotti beans
• 1 lb (450 g) tin of garden peas (fresh or frozen peas would be fine too)
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• Salt and pepper
• About a pint of water

Method

I recommend that you ask the butcher to dice the meat for you - it will save you a lot of time and effort.

Brown the meat in the oil. Add the onions and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent.

Add all the other ingredients except the beans and peas. Cover the pan, bring to the boil and simmer for 1/2 hour. Add the beans and peas and continue to simmer for another 1/2 hour.

Wrap the covered pan in your oldest, double-thickness wool cloak and rest it in the passenger footwell of the car. Ask the passenger to sit with their legs resting on the pan to make sure it doesn't slide around. Drive to the venue, about an hour's drive. The meat will continue to cook slowly and will fill the car with a mouth-watering aroma of lamb and garlic.

Build up a small, hot cooking fire and put the pan over it on a trivet. If the meat is already tender, serve the stew as soon as it is hot. Otherwise, continue to simmer until ready, which shouldn't take more than half an hour. Serve with crusty bread or baked root vegetables.

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