Considered a national dish of Wales, cawl is a soup of meat and vegetables with no strict recipe. A warming dish served during winter, lamb (much older versions use salted pork or beef) is combined leeks and root vegetables to make cawl.
Cook’s notes
We came across Welsh cawl on Tom Norrington-Davies’ Great British Food long ago. My first recipe was based on his but I have since done two tweaks to downplay the strong aroma of lamb.
The first tweak is using vegetable broth rather than the liquid in which the lamb was simmered.
The second is using finely chopped mint as garnish. Other than those two, my recipe remains the same.
There are two ways to serve Welsh cawl. The first is to ladle the meat and vegetables into bowls, and serve them as a soup or stew with bread (and cheese, in some regions) on the side. The second day is to serve the broth as a first course, and the meat with the vegetables as a second course.
Welsh cawl
Ingredients
- 400 grams lamb (14 oz / 0.88 pounds) we used shoulder
- 2 stalks leek
- salt
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 large onion peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 stalks celery cut into one-inch lengths
- 1 large potato peeled and diced
- 1 large carrot peeled and diced
- ¼ head white cabbage cut into one-inch slices
- 4 to 6 cups vegetable broth
- chopped mint leaves to garnish
Instructions
- Place the lamb in a pot and pour in just enough water to cover.
- Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for about two hours or until the meat is literally falling off the bones.
- Scoop out the lamb from the broth and cut into one- to two-inch pieces.
- Melt the butter in a pot. Add the chopped onion and cook gently until softened a bit.
- Add the celery. Cook, stirring, for about a minute. Add the carrot, stir, and cook for a minute.
- Add the potato and cabbage, and stir until the cabbage is starting to soften.
- Pour in the broth. Season with salt.
- Add the lamb.
- Bring to the boil, lower the heat, cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked and tender.
- Ladle generous servings into large bowls and garnish with chopped mint leaves.
- Serve the Welsh cawl hot.
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