Mutton dumplings with romanesco

Mark Hix
·2-min read
Mutton dumplings with Romanesco
Top your dumplings with gravy and a scatter of romanesco florets to finish - Matt Austin

When I was a kid, my favourite dish at the local chippy was faggots in gravy. It was cheap, delicious, and helped stretch my pocket money for other treats. Faggots or dumplings make good use of lesser cuts such as shoulder, belly and offal.

Overview

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

45 mins

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp rapeseed oil

  • 1 onion, finely chopped

  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed

  • 8 sage leaves, finely chopped

  • few sprigs of thyme, leaves chopped

  • 400g minced mutton or hogget (or you can use lamb mince)

  • 100g minced kidneys and/or liver (offal)

  • 100g fresh white breadcrumbs

  • ½ tsp ground mace

  • 1 head of romanesco broccoli

  • couple of knobs of butter

  • 150ml ready-made gravy or beef stock

  • 1 tsp cornflour, mixed with a little water (if using stock)

Method

Step 1

Heat 1 tbsp rapeseed oil in a large frying pan, then gently cook 1 finely chopped onion, 2 crushed garlic cloves, 8 finely chopped sage leaves and the chopped leaves of a few thyme sprigs for 4-5 minutes, until soft. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

Step 2

Mix in 400g minced mutton (or lamb), 100g minced offal, 100g fresh white breadcrumbs and ½ tsp ground mace, then season. Mould into 4 evenly sized balls and chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Step 3

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6.

Step 4

Add the dumplings to a lined baking tray or ovenproof dish, then cook in the oven for 30-40 minutes. Meanwhile, remove the outer leaves from 1 head of romanesco broccoli and cook them in boiling salted water for 10 minutes, until tender, then drain. Coarsely chop the leaves by hand, or briefly in a food processor, then transfer to a pan with a knob of butter. Fry for 1 minute and season.

Step 5

Break the romanesco into florets and cook in boiling salted water in a separate pan for 2-3 minutes. Drain, toss in a knob of butter, and season.

Step 6

If you don’t have ready-made gravy, bring 150ml beef stock to the boil, thicken with 1 tsp cornflour mixture and simmer for a couple of minutes.

Step 7

Remove the dumplings from the oven and dry on kitchen paper. Spoon the chopped leaves on to warmed serving plates, place a dumpling on top, spoon around the gravy and scatter over the romanesco florets.

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