Irish Stew is so cheap and easy to cook. Make it with the leftover meat and bones from a roast leg or shoulder of lamb – this roast recipe is particularly pleasing. The meat and bones will already have rich flavour from having being roasted and, if you slow cook it for as long as you can, you can’t go wrong.

If you have a slow cooker, leave it in overnight on a low setting up until lunch or dinner the next day. If you’re cooking it in a pot, however, it could be a bit dangerous to leave it on overnight!

You can vary the vegetables slightly: perhaps with more carrot and less parsnip, or some chopped celery fried with the other vegetables.

This will serve four with some buttered bread for a substantial lunch or, for dinner you could leave out the potatoes from the pot and serve them on the side instead.

Ingredients

• Leftover joint of lamb
• 4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced into cubes
• 2 onions, peeled and sliced
• 2 carrots, peeled and finely diced
• 1 whole celery stick, unsliced
• 1 parsnip
• A handful of fresh thyme, roughly chopped
• A handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 lamb or chicken stock cube
• Knob of butter or tablespoon of oil

Instructions

• Put the leftover bones and meat into a slow cooker or pot, cover entirely with water
• Add the herbs and celery stick
• You don’t need to do anything for some time. Just cook for as long as possible on the lowest possible heat. When it’s nearly ready, all the meat should have fallen off the bones
• Now fry the onion in a little butter or oil for 2-3 minutes, stirring
• Add the diced potatoes, parsnip, and carrot (with a little more butter if necessary) for a further 5 minutes. The vegetables should be softened but retain a little bite
• Throw them to the pot along with a stock cube and cook on a low heat for a further hour or so
• Remove all the bones and serve

See – no waste!