Traditional Welsh lamb cawl
Lamb cawl is commonly regarded as the national dish of Wales and makes for the perfect comfort dish for a chilly Autumn evening. There are many different recipes and methods used to make this popular one-pot dish.
Traditionally, the ingredients were determined by what was available at the time, with goat and bacon often being used in place of lamb because it was cheaper. I added pumpkin to this recipe for an Autumnal twist, but you can use any root vegetables you like.
Some people like to serve the clear broth first and the meat and vegetables afterwards, but I like to serve my cawl as a single dish, paired with crusty white bread and Welsh Caerphilly cheese.
Servings 4
Ingredients
For the cawl
- 500 g lamb neck fillet you can also use shoulder or leg, but you may need to adjust the cooking times
- 2 large carrots peeled and sliced
- ½ swede peeled and chopped
- ½ culinary pumpkin peeled and chopped
- 2 onions peeled and sliced
- 3 leeks washed and cut into chunks
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme rosemary and parsley
- 1 bay leaf
- 500 g potatoes
To serve
- Crusty White bread
- Salted butter
- Welsh Caerphilly cheese
Instructions
- Cut the meat into chunks and place it in a large, deep saucepan with plenty of water (you’ll need to keep this topped up throughout cooking). Bring to the boil gradually, then use a spoon to remove the scum from the surface.
- Add the carrot, onions, swede and pumpkin. Return to the boil, season with salt and pepper and add the fresh rosemary, thyme and the bay leaf (bundled together with string). Simmer over a gentle heat for around 1 hour and 45 minutes, until the meat is tender.
- Add the potatoes and simmer for a further 25 minutes, then taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if desired.
- Add the leeks and simmer for a further 5-10 minutes, stirring now and then.
- The cawl is now ready to eat. Remove the bay leaf, rosemary and thyme, garnish with freshly chopped parsley and serve with warm, crusty bread, salted butter and Caerphilly cheese.
Notes
Experiment by using different kinds of root vegetables - parsnips and turnips could work quite well!
If possible, prepare the cawl the day before you intend to eat it; this will allow for the flavour to develop and the fat will rise to the surface, so you can remove it easily using a spoon.
Include the green part of the leek to add flavour and colour to your cawl.