Here’s another of my British recipes. The recipe actually calls for mutton, not lamb, but I couldn’t find mutton at our local grocery store. It was still very tasty with lamb instead!

Serves: 6-8
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

olive oil
2 onions, peeled & diced to 1/2″ pieces
4 carrots, peeled & diced to 1/2″ pieces
4 celery sticks, diced to 1/2″ pieces
1/2 small swede, peeled & diced to 1/2″ pieces
1 kg (2.2 lbs) minced lamb
1 bay leaf
200 ml (6.75 oz) red wine
600 ml (20 oz) chicken stock
1-1/4 T. tomato puree
1-1/4 T. Worcestershire sauce
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 kg (about 4.5 lbs) potatoes, peeled
100 ml (3.5 oz) milk, warmed
6 T. butter

1. Heat a little oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, add the onions, carrots, celery and swede and gently saute until soft but not colored.

2. Remove the vegetables and tip the minced lamb into the pan, stirring well to break the meat up, and cook until it is all sealed and browned. Return the vegetables to the pan with the bay leaf, wine, stock, tomato puree, Worcestershire sauce and seasoning; cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350F/180C. Cut the potatoes into even-sized pieces and simmer them in a saucepan of boiling water for 20 minutes, or until soft. Drain the potatoes and return them to the pan, place on a low heat and toss well to drive off any excess moisture.
4. Remove potatoes from the heat and mash thoroughly until smooth, then add the milk, butter and more seasoning and mix well.
5. Transfer the lamb mixture to an ovenproof dish (I used a 9×13 pan) and spoon on the mashed potato, spreading it inwards from the rim and evening it out with a fork on top. Place the dish in the oven and cook it for 30 minutes, until the potato is just browning and some of the juices are bubbling around the edge.

This is definitely a “comfort food” meal. It’s creamy, filling, and delicious! I had a fun time trying to convert measurements for this one (sarcasm), but I’m giving you the recipe in American measurements.

Cooking time: 40 minutes
Serves: 6-8

1/2 c. chopped onion
1/2 c. chopped celery
1/4 c. butter, cubed
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 c. flour
2 t. sugar
1 t. salt
1 t. dried basil
1/2 t. pepper
4 c. (32 oz) chicken broth
10 oz. frozen peas
4 c. cubed cooked chicken*

Dumplings:
2 c. biscuit mix
2 t. dried basil
2/3 c. milk

1. In a large saucepan, saute onion and celery in butter until tender. Add garlic, cook 1 minute longer. Stir in the flour, sugar, salt, basil, and pepper until blended. Gradually add broth; bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 1 minute or until thickened; reduce heat. Add peas and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in chicken. Pour into a 9″x13″ baking dish.
2. For dumplings, in a small bowl, combine the baking mix and basil. Stir in milk with a fork until moistened. Drop by teaspoonfuls into 12 mounds over chicken mixture.
3. Bake, uncovered, at 350F/180C for 30 minutes. Cover & bake 10 minutes longer or until toothpick in dumpling comes out clean.

**This recipe has about 393 calories per serving**

*I usually cook thawed chicken breasts in the oven on low heat (about 250-275F) until a thermometer reads 160F at the thickest part for recipes that call for already cooked chicken. Thaw overnight, then during the afternoon or an hour before you want to cook dinner, pop them in the oven to cook. If you’re really on the ball, cook the chicken the day before, cut it up, then put it in a baggie pre-measured for your recipe!

This was the first recipe I tried from a British magazine. I’ve tweaked this one, because the measurements were all in metric, and I do most of my grocery shopping at the commissary on base. What I do tend to buy off of the base is: milk, eggs, meat, and fresh fruits and vegetables. The following is how I currently make this dish:

Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4

16 oz linguine
8 large sausages (about 1 lb)
1 t. olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
8 oz. Philadelphia cream cheese
2 t. whole grain mustard
1/2 c. pasta water
1 T. chopped parsley (or 1 t. dried parsley)

1. Cook pasta. Meanwhile, skin the sausages and roll the meat into bite-size balls. Fry in a little oil until browned and cooked through. Remove meatballs from pan.
2. Add the onion and garlic to the pan, and cook gently for several minutes to soften the onions. Drain the pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the water. Add the cream cheese to the onions with the pasta water and mustard. Gently heat until the cheese has melted, then stir in the parsley and meatballs.
3. Divide the pasta between 4 bowls. Top with meatballs and sauce.