Irish stew recipe

Bone-in mutton, onions and potatoes layered raw in a pot of water, where half the potatoes dissolve into the only thickening the dish gets.

2 hours and 30 minuteseasy7 ingredients

Ingredients

• 1200 g mutton neck chops
• 1000 g floury potatoes
• 3 onions
• 800 ml water
• 1 bunch fresh parsley
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

How to make Irish stew

1. Get 1.2 kg of bone-in mutton or hogget neck chops; the bones and fat are what make the broth, so boneless meat is a downgrade.
2. Peel 1 kg of floury potatoes, cut half into thick chunks and leave the other half in large whole pieces.
3. Slice 3 onions thickly and layer the pot: chops, onions, potatoes, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp black pepper, repeating until everything is in.
4. Pour in 800 ml of cold water, just up to the top layer. Use water, not stock, and do not brown the meat first.
5. Bring it barely to a boil, skim the grey foam off carefully, then cover and simmer on the lowest heat for 2 hours.
6. The chopped potatoes break down and thicken the broth while the whole ones stay intact; there is no flour and no roux.
7. Skim the fat from the surface, taste for salt, and let the pot sit off the heat for 10 minutes.
8. Serve in deep bowls with plenty of chopped parsley and brown soda bread.

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