Mince and rosemary dumplings

We have had the Autumn Equinox The days will be getting shorter, and we have entered  a new cycle. Our temperatures are certainly falling and so we felt like comfort food last week. I had 6oz of mince for 2 of us, and so I decided to make mince and rosemary dumplings.

The mince mixture was made in the slow cooker. It was bulked out with lots of vegetables. Anything that you have can be used, but I put in the ingredients that I had. Frozen veg can be used. I only had 6oz of mince for the two of us, but you can use as much or as little at you want.

Ingredients

Mince

Beans

Carrots

Celery

Red pepper

A sweet potato

Tomatoes

Barley (a hand full.)

Beef stock (or stock cubes)

Salt and pepper

Dumplings

4oz self raising flour

2oz butter

Salt and pepper

Dried rosemary

11/2 tbsp milk(or mire)

Method

1. Fry the mince and onion togerher until the meat is brown. Add garlic near the end of cooking if used. Put this all into the slow cooker.

2. Add all the different veg that you are using and add a handful of barley or lentils. This helps to thicken it.

3. Add enough stock to cover the meat and vegetables. Mine took a pint. Cook on high for 3 to 4 hours or on low for for 6 to 8 hours.

4. Make the dumplings by rubbing the butter with the tips of your fingers into the flour; salt, and rosemary.

5.   Add enough milk to bind the mixture together. Mine took 1.5 tbsp. If you add too much milk just add a bit more flour.

6. Roll the dumplings into balls and place on top of the mince in the slow cooker. With the lid on cook on low for 30 to 40 minutes. The dumplings will expand. You can serve them like this but I like my dumplings crispy and so I placed them into the air fryer for 5 minutes.

We served ours with cabbage. We had big portions as we were going away and didn’t want waste. It would have fed 3 or 4, especially with more sides of vegetables. All of our vegetables had been grown in the garden and so this was a frugal meal for us, but a delicious one. This a cheap way to make dumplings and it tasted so good and got a thumbs up from Mr S.