1 tbsp sunflower oil
200g smoked streaky bacon, preferably in one piece, skinned and cut into chunks
900g cheap stewing lamb (diced shoulder, neck fillet, shank or breast – ask at your butcher counter), cut into large chunks
small bunch thyme
3 onions, thickly sliced
5 carrots, cut into big chunks
6 medium potatoes, cut into big chunks
700ml lamb stock
3 bay leaves
85g pearl barley
1 large leek, washed and cut into chunks
small knob of butter
Heat the oil in a frying pan. Sizzle the bacon until crisp, tip into the slow-cooker pot, then brown the chunks of lamb in the pan. Transfer to the slow-cooker pot along with the thyme, onions, carrots, potatoes, stock, bay leaves and enough water to cover the lamb. Cover and cook on Low for 7 hrs.
Stir in the pearl barley and leek, and cook on High for 1 hr more until the pearl barley is tender.
Stir in the butter, season and serve scooped straight from the dish.
