Mulholland says: “Dumplings are a great addition to stews as they add extra heft and fill the family up for very little cost. This winter warmer makes a perfect veggie meal, is super simple and is made in one pot, so even the washing up is easy!”

Prep: 15 mins

Cook: 40 mins

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable or olive oil
1 cup (115g) frozen chopped onions
2 tsp frozen chopped garlic
2 stalks celery, finely sliced
1 large leek, washed and roughly sliced
2 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
8 baby potatoes, halved
5 large mushrooms, quartered
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp dried rosemary
3 cups (720ml) vegetable stock (use 2 stock cubes)
3 tsp cornflour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the dumplings:

Scant 1 cup (100g) self-raising flour
½ tsp salt
50g vegetable suet
2 tsp frozen chopped parsley

Method

Heat the oil in a large saucepan with a lid over a medium heat, then add the onions, garlic and celery and cook, stirring, for 4 minutes, until soft.

Add the leek, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, thyme, rosemary and vegetable stock to the pan and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and leave to cook for 15 minutes, covered with a lid, stirring occasionally.

While the stew is cooking, make the dumpings. Combine the flour, salt, suet and parsley in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. Make a well in the centre and add 6 tablespoons of cold water, then use your hands to bring everything together to form a dough, adding a couple more tablespoons of water if the mixture is too dry. Once you have a smooth dough, turn out onto a lightly floured surface and cut in half, then cut each half into quarters, leaving you with 8 equal-sized pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a ball with your hands and set aside.

Once the stew has been simmering for 15 minutes and all the vegetables are tender, dilute the cornflour with a couple of teaspoons of water in a small bowl. Pour the cornflour slurry into the stew and stir to thicken and combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.

If you’re cooking now…

Remove the lid from the stew and arrange the raw dumplings over the surface, cover with the lid again and continue simmering for another 20 minutes, until the dumplings are puffed up, light and fluffy. Spoon into serving bowls and serve hot.

If you’re making ahead to freeze…

Set the pan aside until the stew has cooled to room temperature. Ladle the stew into a large, labelled freezer bag and place the dumplings in a separate freezer bag. Freeze both flat for up to 3 months.

Then…

This can be cooked directly from frozen. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 and line a baking sheet with foil. Lay the frozen block of stew in the base of a baking dish and arrange the frozen dumplings on the baking sheet. Cook the stew in the oven for 25 minutes, then drain off any excess water and return to the oven for another 45 minutes, adding the tray of dumplings to the oven at the same time. Ladle the stew into serving bowls and top with the dumplings. Serve hot.

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