Beef Soup With Dumplings

Serves 4

Beef soup with dumplings makes a delicious lunch on a cold winter’s day, wonderful for when you have just got in from the wind and rain. This rustic soup is full of tasty warm comforting flavours onions, leeks and lots of root vegetables. Potatoes, carrots, Swede and other root vegetables soak up the rich flavour of the beef; the potatoes become tender, soft, stodgy and very satisfying. Heavy filling root vegetables taste wonderful with beef; this recipe combines the rich meaty flavours of beef with the comforting filling textures and flavours of winter vegetables.

The great thing about this recipe is that it is very versatile, you can use any root vegetable, they all taste fabulous with beef. You can even use Sunday lunch’s leftover vegetables; just put them in half way through cooking instead, as they will need less time. 

Dumplings are ideal for winter, like beef soup they are also comforting, dumplings are also wonderful to soak up all the soup and mop up every last drop of this scrumptious lunch. This soup can be made ahead of time so it is ready for you to heat up and eat straight away; there is absolutely no need for you to wait to be warmed up.

Ingredients

For soup

• 40g butter
• 400g stewing beef 
• 1 onion
• 1 litre beef stock
• 450g root vegetables
• 1 leek
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley
• Salt and pepper

For Dumplings

• 50g self raising flour
• 15g suet
• 1 tsp chopped fresh parsley
• Fresh thyme leaves
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tsp milk

Method

For soup

1. Melt half the butter in the pan and quickly fry the beef to seal and brown. Remove the beef.
2. Melt the rest of the butter and fry onion until golden.
3. Add the beef stock. Bring to the boil and then simmer.
4. Add the vegetables and beef to the stock and let simmer for 45 minutes until tender.
5. Add the leek and the parsley and simmer for 5 minutes.

For Dumplings

1. Mix the flour, suet, herbs and seasoning together in a bowl. Blend together with milk to make a soft but not sticky dough, shape into little balls by rolling in floury hands.
2. Add the dumplings to the soup and cook for 5 minutes turn dumplings and cook for 5 more minutes.