New Cooking Series – 2) Casserole and Dumplings

A hearty traditional meal that has been made for generations, casserole and dumplings are a winter staple that will be sure to get you through the colder months or a chilly evening!

It’s very easy to make and it’s a great way to use up any left over vegetables. This lovely slow-cooked casserole and dumplings can slowly bubble away throughout the day if the temperature is held in the yellow zone.

We made ours with our own cast iron enamel cookware set, which is available in black or grey. The trivet also provides a great way to regulate the temperature of your stovetop.

Casserole and dumplings can be made a thousand different ways, so feel free to substitute any of the ingredients for your own choice of vegetables! We’ve made a short video on how we cooked ours, but we’ve also included a more detailed recipe that you can find below.

This delicious meal can be made in 10 simple steps!

1. Chop a selection of winter vegetables into diamond chunks and gently sauté them for 20 mins or so with salt, pepper, and a good splash of extra virgin olive oil. This could include a mixture of celery, carrots, onion, turnip, swede, new potatoes, button mushrooms and peppers.
2. Add a splash of red wine and cook out for a couple of mins.
3. Next, add 2 pints of vegetable stock, a good splash of balsamic vinegar, soy sauce and a bay leaf.
4. Boil gently on the top of the stove for 1 hour.
5. After that, cover and place in the oven for another hour.
6. Whilst it’s cooking you can make the dumplings. To make the dumplings, add vegetable suet, flour and sufficient water to bring together as a dough.
7. Divide the dough into 8 balls and space them out on a baking sheet.
8. Add more fuel to the Little Range to bring up the temperature of the oven and cook the dumplings for 30 mins until golden brown. We like them crispy, so we cooked them on their own rather than in the casserole.
9. Add the dumplings to the casserole 20 mins from serving and replace in the oven uncovered for this time.
10. Remove from the oven and serve!

You can check out our recent post about lighting the Little Range if you get stuck, or you can easily contact us with any questions you might have!