Low spoon slow cooker gammon and lentil stew

This is a cousin of my lentil stew, with a small gammon joint doing most of the flavour work. Everything except the spinach goes into the slow cooker in one go: no frying, no chopping and no browning. By the end of the day the gammon is falling apart and the lentils have broken down into something thick and comforting. The main effort is pulling the gammon apart with two forks, and then the washing up.

At a glance

Spoons	4 out of 5
Standing time	about 15 to 20 minutes, mostly shredding the gammon and portioning
Hands-off time	7 to 9 hours on low
Washing up	slow cooker pot, a plate, two forks, a ladle, tubs
Makes	about 6 portions
Cost per portion	roughly £1.30 to £1.40
Protein per portion	roughly 35 to 40g
Freezes	yes, very well
Gluten free	check your stock cubes

Yellow split peas are the cheapest option for the pulses. Red lentils cost a little more unless you buy a bigger bag.

Why it’s low spoon

• No chopping. A bag of frozen onion, carrot and celery base mix replaces the usual soffritto, garlic comes from a tube and the spinach goes in frozen.
• No frying or browning. Everything goes in raw, all at once.
• No soaking. Red lentils, yellow split peas and moong dal can all go in dry.
• It forgives you. The quantities don’t need to be precise, and it’s very hard to overcook.
• The hard part is short. Shredding the gammon takes a few minutes, and you can do it sitting down.

Ingredients

Prices are Sainsbury’s online prices at the time of posting.

The base

• 1 small gammon joint, smoked or unsmoked, around 600g (Sainsbury’s gammon joint, £4.75 for 600g)
• about 500g frozen onion, carrot and celery mix, which is half a bag (Sainsbury’s classic vegetable base mix, £2 for 1kg)
• garlic purée from a tube, a good squeeze or two
• 2 bay leaves
• plenty of black pepper

The bulk

400 to 500g of any one, or any mix, of:

• red split lentils (Laila red split lentils, £2 for 1kg)
• yellow split peas (Sainsbury’s dried yellow split peas, £1.30 for 500g)
• moong dal (split mung beans), from the world foods aisle

Use 400g for a small slow cooker or a soupier stew, and 500g for a big slow cooker or a thicker, gloopier one. Red lentils and moong dal break down into a smooth, thick stew; split peas hold a bit more texture.

The liquid

• 1 or 2 regular stock cubes, chicken or vegetable (Sainsbury’s stock cubes, £1.10 for 10)
• 1.5 to 2 litres of hot water

The greens

• about 250g frozen chopped spinach, a few handfuls of blocks (Sainsbury’s chopped spinach, £1.60 for 900g)

Optional

• 1 tsp mustard powder
• a handful of parsley, chopped and stirred through at the end, if you can be bothered (frozen chopped parsley saves you the knife)

Method

1. Take the gammon out of its packaging and netting/string.
2. Put the gammon in the slow cooker and tip in the veg base mix, garlic, pulses, bay leaves, mustard powder (if using) and a good grind of black pepper.
3. Crumble the stock cubes straight into the pot, then pour in the hot water until the gammon is covered, or as close as you can get. Give it a single stir and put the lid on.
4. Cook on low for 7 to 9 hours. If you’re around, check once or twice and top up with water if it’s looking dry, but it’ll be fine.
5. With about half an hour to go, lift the gammon out onto a plate with a big spoon or tongs. Stir the frozen spinach into the pot and put the lid back on.
6. Pull the gammon apart with two forks, discarding any fat you don’t want. Sit down for this if you can.
7. Stir the shredded gammon back into the pot and cook for the remaining half hour, until the spinach is hot through. Fish out the bay leaves, stir in the parsley if using, and taste before adding any salt.
8. Serve with crusty bread or toast, or just on its own.
9. Add/take away anything you like. Root veg, go for it. Leeks, go for it. Chop fresh veg, go for it. Whatever works.

Freezing and reheating

Let it cool, then portion into tubs or freezer bags and freeze. Reheat from frozen in the microwave or a pan until it’s piping hot all the way through, adding a splash of water if it’s thickened up.

A note on salt

Between the gammon and regular stock cubes, this is a salty stew. If you’ve been advised to increase your salt intake for POTS, that’s arguably a bonus. If you need to limit salt, use one reduced or low salt stock cube, or choose unsmoked gammon (often a little milder).

Things to know

• Fibre: this is a lot of fibre per portion. If your gut isn’t used to pulses, start with smaller portions.
• Gluten: lentils and split peas are naturally gluten free, but some stock cubes contain wheat and some pulses carry a “may contain” warning, so check the labels if it matters for you.
• Slow cooker size: don’t fill it more than about three quarters full, as pulses swell a lot. If it’s getting close, use 400g of pulses and less water.

The figures are rough guides rather than lab measurements, and your batch will vary with what you put in.