Fårikål - Norwegian lamb and cabbage stew

A few years ago, a friend of mine moved to Norway. Recently, they told me about Norway's spiritual, perhaps actual, national dish:

Fårikål (lamb in cabbage). Quarter your cabbage(s), alternate chunks of cabbage with chunks of lamb in a casserole dish, pour about an inch of water in the bottom, salt and pepper as much as you dare, then stick the lid on and cook in the oven for three hours.

Well, how could you not?

Being me, I've mucked about with it a little.

There's green peppercorns to brighten it, and I use a light vegetable stock rather than water, but otherwise that's pretty much it. This is one of those beautifully simple things with a great flavour for very little hands-on time.

Every recipe I've found online for Farikal starts with six hundred words of sub-hygge autumnal prose onanism. So, uh, I guess picture some sheep, some chunky socks, some mid-tone browns, and save yourself five minutes.

All snuggly? Neato. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

Lamb, 500g (see below)
Sweetheart cabbage, 1 (about 600g)
Black peppercorns, 1tsp (more if you like some heat)
Green peppercorns, 1/2tsp
Flour, 2tbsp
Light vegetable stock, 400ml

Lamb – I use neck for this. But any slow cooking cut with a bit of fat should do. Maybe not breast - that's too fatty. Or leg: that’s too lean. Shoulder would work well, as would small shanks on the bone. A few recipes I've seen leave the lamb on the bone generally.

Cabbage – I use sweetheart (hispi) because I bloody love it, although it is a bit more springtime. Any firm white cabbage would do. I suspect something big and furled like a savoy or a basic green would be a little bitter.

Instructions:

Put the oven on at 150c

Cut the cabbage into wedges – 6ths or 8ths, something you can tuck into the stew pot.

Cut the lamb into big chunks.

Mix the flour with a little salt, and toss the lamb in it.

In a sturdy lidded stew pot, layer up the ingredients, sprinkling in the peppercorns as you go. Put a layer of lamb on the bottom, then cabbage, then lamb, then cabbage.

Pour in the stock, put the lid on, and put it in the oven for three hours.

The liquid won't cover it, so check periodically to make sure the cabbage doesn't burn. If it's getting really seared, turn it or baste it or something.

Serve with boiled potatoes, or bread or mash. The lamb is fall-apart tender, and the pepperiness is beautiful with the cabbage.

It’ll come out quite liquid, with a fairly thin gravy for the mash or bread to mop up. Splendid. If you fancy it thicker, either remove the lid for the last twenty minutes of cooking (watch the cabbage doesn’t catch), or simmer it on the hob for some of that final time.