Slow cooker - Lamb stew and dumplings

I only cooked this for the first time last weekend and it was amazing! Empty plates all round. It was inspired by a recipe from a recent Masterchef Australia episode as it looked so delicious and it's a great dish for this time of year.

Ingredients

Serves 5

For the stew

400g diced lamb

2 onions

2 carrots

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 tbsp thyme

1 tbsp parsley

2 bay leaves

400g cherry tomatoes

300ml of chicken stock

For the dumplings

150g suet

150g self raising flour

1 tsp parsley

150ml water

• Chop the onions and fry them in a pan for a few minutes with the lamb until browned. Add them to the slow cooker.
• Peel and chop the carrots and add them to the slow cooker. Then add the tomato puree, cherry tomatoes, herbs and stock. Give it a stir and cook on auto for 3 hours. Add a little more stock if necessary.
• Make the dumplings by combining the suet with the flour, parsley and water in a bowl to form a soft dough. Roll the dough out into a sausage approx 8 inches long and cut into pieces around 2cm. Roll each piece into a ball and place them into the slow cooker after the 3 hours. 
• Cook for around 15 minutes with the stew, until the dumplings are hot all the way through, remove the bay leaves and serve.
• Scoff!

We enjoyed this with green veg and mash potato.

I'm linking this with...

Salmon and gnocchi bake

This has become a firm favourite for the Mr and I. It's rich in flavour and filling plus we both love eating fish.

Ingredients

Serves 2/3

500g gnocchi
2 salmon fillets, diced
1 tbsp tomato puree
200g Philadelphia/soft cheese
Chilli powder (I add 1 heaped teaspoon but you can add more or less to suit your taste)
Handful of chopped parsley
Squeeze of lemon
Grated cheese for on top


Method

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
• Bring a pan of water to boil and add the gnocchi. Cook for a few minutes (it raises to the surface when done)
• In a seperate pan add the tomato puree, soft cheese and chilli. Warm gently
• Add the gnocchi, approx 100ml of the boiled water and the salmon. Stir.
• Add the lemon and parsely then remove from the heat. Pour into an ovenproof dish, sprinkle on cheese and bake for around 20 minutes until the cheese is browning nicely.
• Scoff!

You could have a serving by itself, enjoy it with some fresh warm bread or it would go lovely with a salad. It's also quite versatile as you can add a few of your fav veg in with it too (I recommend broccoli or leek!).