Polly Arnold shares her family’s Irish stew recipe with Noni Needs.

A traditional Irish family recipe past down the generations.

What better restorative, warming, delicious, St Patrick’s celebratory meal than Irish stew.

The recipe is published below.

Polly’s serving tip: Serve in large old fashioned soup bowls with warmed, crunchy French stick and a pint of Guinness!

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Serves 4 people

You’ll need:

1.5kg neck of lamb
1 kg floury potatoes
1 kg carrots
400g shallots
1 bay leaf
4 sprigs of Thyme
2 handfuls of chopped parsley
1 litre of water or lamb stock
30g butter

STEP 1

Cut the lamb into large chunks. Peel the potatoes and cut into chunks the same size as the meat. Put the potatoes into a bowl of water to keep them white. Peel the carrots and cut into similar size chunks any shape you like – disks or batons. Peel the onions leaving them whole – don’t worry about the differing sizes especially with the ones that naturally split.

STEP 4

Put the lamb in a large casserole. Pour in the water to submerge the meat and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 1 hour occasionally skimming off all the impurities from the surface with a small sieve.

STEP 5

Add the potatoes, carrots, thyme, bay leaf and shallots – adding more water if it is needed. Season generously and simmer for a further 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

STEP 6

Test all elements to see if they are tender – if not just let it gently simmer until everything is tender. Take off the heat, add the parsley and butter, cover (don’t stir) and leave for 15 minutes.

Serve in large old fashioned soup bowls with warmed, crunchy French stick and a pint of Guinness!