RECIPES
Scouse is boss. And dead easy to make. It’s an inclusive and adaptable dish that anybody can enjoy. What’s that? You’re a vegetarian? No worries my lovely chums, we have a traditional version of scouse called “blind scouse” for you. Even better: it’s 100% vegan and gluten-free.
Beef / Lamb Scouse
You need:
- 2 large onions
- 500g* beef or lamb**, cubed
- 500g potatoes
- 250g carrots
- Oxo
- Flour
- Cooking oil
- Water
- Pickled beetroot or pickled red cabbage
- Crusty bread
*You can play with the quantities depending on how many hungry mouths you have to feed, just try to keep it at a ratio of around 1:1 for the meat and the potatoes and half that value for any other vegetables you want to throw in.
**some swear by beef, others by lamb. Me? I like to use a bit of both.
- Peel the onions, potatoes and the carrots
- Cut the carrots and onions up into nice big chunks
- Cut most of the potatoes into nice big chucks, but pick a few to slice very thinly – these’ll break down and thicken the gravy.
- Dust the meat with flour
- Get a big pot, stick it on the hob, add a drop of cooking oil
- Add the onion and heat for a minute or so until soft
- Add the meat, stir and heat for a few minutes until it’s sealed
- Rub in a Oxo (stock) cube or two
- Add the rest of the veggies. Throw in some salt and pepper and stir it up good!
- Add enough water to cover the meat and the veggies
- Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and allow to bubble away for 3 hours, stirring occasionally
Don’t let the food stick to the bottom of the pot! Add more salt and pepper as desired. A bit of Worcestershire sauce usually goes down well. Scouse is wonderfully reheatable, but if it’s super thick just add a little more water.
Serve with the pickled beetroot or red cabbage and crusty bread.
Blind (Veggie) Scouse
You need:
- 2 large onions
- 500g swede*
- 500g potatoes
- 250g carrots
- 250g sweet potatoes
- Cooking oil
- Water
- Pickled beetroot or pickled red cabbage
*You can play with the quantities depending on how many hungry mouths you have to feed, just try to keep it at a ratio of around 1:1 for the swede and the potatoes and half that value for any other vegetables you want to throw in.
- Wash your vegetables well – you’ll be using the skin
- Peel the onions, potatoes, carrots, swede and sweet potatoes
- Put the peel into a pan with around 500ml of water and boil vigorously for 15 mins (this will be your stock)
- Cut the onions, carrots, swede and sweet potatoes up into nice big chunks
- Cut most of the potatoes into nice big chucks, but pick a few to slice very thinly – these’ll break down and thicken the gravy.
- Get a big pot, stick it on the hob, add a drop of cooking oil
- Add the onion and heat for a minute or so until soft
- Add the rest of the veggies.
- Separate the boiled water from the peel using a sieve or colander, add that water to the pot
- Throw in some salt and pepper and stir it up good!
- Add enough clean water to cover the veggies
- Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and allow to bubble away for 3 hours, stirring occasionally
Don’t let the food stick to the bottom of the pot! Add more salt and pepper as desired. A bit of Worcestershire sauce usually goes down well. Scouse is wonderfully reheatable, but if it’s super thick just add a little more water.
Serve with the pickled beetroot or red cabbage and, if you’re not gluten intolerant, crusty bread.