Norwegian potato dumplings with lamb and swede mash (Raspeballer)

1. Put the lamb in large pieces into the salted water and simmer, covered, over low heat for 1 hour until tender; this will be the cooking liquid for the dumplings.

2. Meanwhile, peel two-thirds of the potatoes and grate them finely; squeeze out the liquid hard in a clean tea towel. Boil the rest of the potatoes in their skins, then peel and mash them.

3. Mix the raw and cooked potato with the barley flour and 1 tsp salt to a dough you can shape; cut the bacon into small cubes.

4. With wet hands shape 8 large dumplings, press a little heap of bacon into the middle of each and seal well.

5. Lower the dumplings into the simmering stock and cook for 40-45 minutes; meanwhile peel and dice the swede, boil it in salted water for 20 minutes until tender and mash with the butter and pepper.

6. Serve the dumplings with the sliced lamb and the swede mash, drizzled with a little melted butter.

Tip: Raspeball (also called komle or klubb) is a traditional Thursday dish of western Norway, and every region swears by its own version. The key is to squeeze the grated potato really well and never to boil the dumplings hard, or they will fall apart. Fresh lamb stands in here for the original salted lamb, and you can replace the swede with parsnip.