Broth with dumplings
Ingredients
- 1lb Breast of Lamb
- 1lb Carrots
- 1lb Rutabaga
- 2 Leeks
- 8 oz split peas
- 8 oz dried green peas
- 2 oz barley
Method
- Put the lamb in a large pan half filled with water. Bring to the boil, skim off the scum and simmer for a couple of hours.
- Remove the lamb from the pan. Cool and store in the fridge.
- Cover the stock and leave to cool completely, until the fat all rises to the surface and hardens.
- Soak the peas and barley overnight
- Day two: remove all the solidified fat from the top of the stock and put in the fridge (you’ll need it later for the dumplings). Strain the stock into a large clean pan.
- Rinse the peas and add to the stock.
- Grate the carrots and rutabaga and add to the stock
- Bring the soup to the boil and simmer for a couple of hours. (You could do this stage in a slow cooker, it’s a lovely welcoming smell to come home to)
- Meanwhile wash and slice the leeks into 1-inch rounds. Leave to soak to get rid of any soil.
- When the peas are cooked add the leeks and cook for another 30 mins.
- Strip all the meat off the lamb and add to the soup.
- Bring soup to boil, make sure it remains boiling throughout cooking. Add dumplings to soup and cook for about 15 mins. They are done when a skewer, or narrow bladed knife comes out clean.
The soup is now ready to serve, and this will give about 8 servings.
I usually add dumplings on the first day.
Everyone on Tyneside has his or her own recipe for broth. This is my Mam’s. I couldn’t get it to taste right until I remembered that she grated the carrots and rutabaga. It takes two days to make, but there’s not really a lot of effort involved either day. And it tastes even better the day after it’s made. We usually serve it with dumplings, keep the lamb fat for the dumplings; it makes them taste better than using suet. I’ve guessed at quantities, I was taught to make it by eye and that’s the way I always do it.
Everyone on Tyneside has his or her own recipe for broth. This is my Mam’s. I couldn’t get it to taste right until I remembered that she grated the carrots and rutabaga. It takes two days to make, but there’s not really a lot of effort involved either day. And it tastes even better the day after it’s made. We usually serve it with dumplings, keep the lamb fat for the dumplings; it makes them taste better than using suet. I’ve guessed at quantities, I was taught to make it by eye and that’s the way I always do it.