Dumplings are good wholesome winter food. These are 100% vegetarian. They can be added to almost any soup or stew, but here they have been dropped into a butter bean and vegetable stew. It goes down nicely with freshly made bread and family around the table.

Step 1: Equipment:

Alongside the pot of your choice, I've used a 2 gallon stainless steel pot, I have used one knife, one wooden spoon, one chopping board and a vegetable peeler (not shown in photo).

Trying to stay true to the idea of 'one pot meals' I mixed up the dumplings on the table, this was awkward but I felt better for doing it.

Step 2: Ingredients:

For the stew:For the stock:For the dumplings:
Onions Barley miso 8 oz of flour
Mushrooms Vegetable stock powder 4 oz of vegetable suet
Peppers Yeast extract 1 tbsp of baking powder
Carrot Vegetable stock cubes Pinch of salt
Lentils Salt and pepper Cold water
Potatoes Warm water
Butter beans
Peas
Garlic
Ginger
Stock
Oil
Water

Step 3: Stew Time:

Missing ingredient is our woodburning stove which we do pretty much all of our cooking on through the winter.

I always heat the oil a bit and then add the onion, and let it fry a bit. As soon as it is looking soft in goes the mushroom closely followed by the carrot and peppers. Because of how the stove heats the pan you only need to stir occasionally. At this stage I would normally add some fresh tomatoes but I had run out.

After a while the veg will soften and then you can add water and lentils. Leave this to stew till the carrots are par cooked and add your potatoes and a bit more water.

Step 4: Making the Stock:

I like different stocks for different foods. For this stew I wanted it to be a light stock so I used barley miso which works well with dumplings and butter beans which have a subtle flavour which can be easily overpowered.

This part is simple and is down to personal taste. Mix all stock ingredients together in a jug (not a pot) with a little hot water and stir well to dissolve pastes and powders. Stand this to one side until the vegetables are ready.

Step 5: Making the Dumplings:

Here I have used the simplest method and tipped all the ingredients on the table and mixed it up with my hands.

With the flour, vegetable suet, baking powder and salt in a mound on the table make a small well for the water. The water should be added a small amount at a time so the mixture doesn't get too runny. It will spread across the table so you can stem the flow with a dam of flour from the mixture. Remember to keep your camera out of the way.

Don't over knead the mixture this will compress the dough.

Form it into a large ball then break off small pieces and gently form into balls and place on floured surface.

Put to one side.

Step 6: Adding Stock, Peas and Beans:

Before the potato is fully cooked add the stock, ginger and garlic, then stir in.

Butter beans are soft so should be added last with peas and stir in carefully.

Step 7: Adding Dumplings:

When you add your dumplings they will seem a little lost in a pan this size, fear not, they will grow! Once cooked they will cover the surface of your stew. Boiling on a hotplate or stirring regularly to prevent sticking can break up the butter beans and dumplings, so put the pot into the oven, it can sit in there for an hour till cooked.

Step 8: End Result:

You should find after an hour the dumplings have grown and now fit the pan, the stew has thickened but still has a light colour. To test the dumplings using a sharp knife push it into one or two dumplings it should slide through easily and steadily, if they are not cooked they will be stodgy in the middle so the knife will not go through. The blade should be hot when it comes out.

A simple dish like this doesn't need anything other than home made bread and butter and is better when shared.

Serve and eat while hot.