Cawl
Cawl reminds me of being a kid: it reminds me of the cold, of children’s television and it reminds me of both my Nans and of my Mother.
Here’s how I make it.
You’ll need:
- 500g of lamb or mutton neck.
- 1 huge winter leek.
- Some root vegetables (for example: 3 medium carrots, 2 medium potatoes and 2 parsnips). Use whatever you have/like. I’m fond of parsnips as they give the soup a lovely sweet flavour. Swede is also good.
- A bay leaf.
- A mug of red lentils.
- Salt and pepper.
Put the lamb and bay leaf in a large casserole/saucepan/stock pot and cover with two litres of water. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for an hour. Take off the heat and leave to stand overnight. You may as well soak the lentils in water overnight while you’re at it.
The next day the fat should have set on the surface. Skim and discard. Remove the meat from the stock and set aside. Bring the stock back to the boil and add the drained lentils, sliced leek and chopped root vegetables. Season with a good amount of salt and plenty of pepper. Simmer for 1 hour. At some point during the hour remove the meat from the bone and break up into bite sized pieces. Add the meat back to the soup.
After an hour the lentils should have started to break up and thickened the soup slightly. I’m not sure how authentic the use of lentils is. If you don’t want to use them then substitute more potato which will provide some thickness as it cooks down (you can aid this process by squashing some of the potato against the side of the pan towards the end of cooking). Check the seasoning before serving, it may need more salt.
Eat with some bread and a smug grin.