Ingredients
1 leftover free-range chicken carcass, plus up to 300g leftover cooked chicken
4 rashers of higher-welfare smoked streaky bacon
olive oil
2 onions
3 large carrots
2 potatoes or 250g celeriac
a few sprigs of fresh thyme
2 fresh bay leaves
200g button mushrooms
1 heaped tablespoon of plain flour
250g self-raising flour
125g cold unsalted butter
Method
- Strip all the meat you can find off the chicken carcass, and put aside.
- Place the carcass and any bones in a large pan and use a rolling pin to smash them all up. Cover with 1 litre of water, bring to the boil, then simmer for at least 30 minutes, skimming away any scum from the surface.
- Meanwhile, finely slice the bacon and place in a large casserole pan on a medium heat with a lug of oil, while you peel and chop the onions, carrots, and potatoes or celeriac into 2cm dice.
- Add to the pan along with the thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring regularly.
- Halve and stir in the mushrooms, along with the leftover chicken and plain flour.
- Pour the stock through a sieve straight into the pan (topping up with a little water, if needed) and let it simmer for 20 minutes, or until thick and delicious, while you start your dumplings.
- Place the self-raising flour and a pinch of sea salt in a mixing bowl. Coarsely grate in the butter and rub together until it resembles breadcrumbs.
- Add 100ml of cold water and bring into a ball of dough. Divide into 12 pieces and roll into balls.
- When the time’s up, loosen the stew with a good splash of water if needed, season to perfection, then transfer it to an ovenproof pan and place the balls on top.
- Pop the lid on and bake at 190°C/375°F/gas 5 for 30 minutes, or until hot through and the dumplings are fluffy and cooked. Serve with some seasonal greens.
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