Ennerdale Hot Pot (cooked outdoors with Georgia)
Forest Hearth Meets Wonder Dog
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This recipe is part of the Stepping Stones Cookery Pathway.
Table of Contents
✨ Before We Begin…
Cooked outdoors in Ennerdale, this hot pot is as much about the moment as the meal. Hearty, simple, and best with crusty bread.
‘Must be best food offer, of any genre, in Kendal. Hugely accomplished cooking and very much recommended.’
Tony P, Kendal; Food Customer
The Cook’s Mind
What This Recipe Helps You Practise
- Mixing herbs and spices into a seasoning blend.
- Cooking onions slowly for sweetness.
- Balancing mushrooms and sausages.
- Managing sugar in seasoning to avoid burning.
- Adding herbs at the right moment.
Make-Ahead
- Holds in fridge if mushrooms added at service.
- Can prep seasoning mix in advance.
Freezer-Friendly
- Freezes less well with mushrooms, add fresh on day.
- Base freezes, mushrooms best fresh.
Key Substitutions
- Onion: use shallots for milder flavour.
- Sausages: any vegan sausage brand works.
Cooking Parlance
- Sweating onions: cooking gently with salt for sweetness.
- Seasoning mix: pre-combined herbs and spices for ease.
Ingredient Focus
✨ Onion — sweet and savoury.
To Ingredient Focus: Red Onion
Serving Suggestions
- Serve with crusty sourdough rolls.
- Top with torn parsley.
- Eat outdoors for maximum joy.
Multi-Purpose Recipe
This recipe has more than one life…
- Make into soup with extra stock.
- Serve as a side with roasted veg.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Outdoor cooking at its best.
- Rich yet simple to make.
- Perfect with crusty bread.
Watch It Being Made
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Handpicked to Go With This One
A few recipes that play well together — flavour friends, not just neighbours.
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- Sticky Barbecue Beans with Cornbread Crumble
- Cumin Seed Paratha
- Campfire Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chilli
Waste Less: How To Use Up Your Ingredient Stash!
Got something spare — a handful, a spoonful, or the end of a packet? These tags help you find other ways to use it. It’s a small step toward cooking intuitively and wasting less❣️
chestnut mushrooms, dried rosemary, dried thyme, fresh flat leaf parsley, fresh garlic, fresh herbs, fresh parsley, red onion, tomato, tomatoes
Ennerdale Hot Pot Recipe
Ennerdale Hot Pot (cooked outdoors with Georgia)
Cooked in the forest glades of Ennerdale, this hot pot is as much about the moment as the meal. Rich, hearty, and simple, it’s the kind of food that tastes even better outdoors. Crusty bread on the side is essential for mopping up every drop.
Ingredients
Ingredients for seasoning mix
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp golden caster sugar
- ¼ tsp dried thyme
- ¼ tsp dried rosemary
- 180 g red onion | unpeeled weight
- 10 ml oil
- 1 pinch salt
Other ingredients
- 100 g chestnut mushrooms | chopped into quarters
- 2 sausages | I used Linda Macartney Red Onion & Rosemary sausages.
- 2 cloves fresh garlic | thinly chopped or finely grated
- 200 g chopped tomatoes
- 15 g flat leaf parsley
To serve
- sourdough rolls
Instructions
- Make the seasoning mix.¼ tsp salt, ½ tsp ground black pepper, ¼ tsp golden caster sugar, ¼ tsp dried thyme, ¼ tsp dried rosemary
- Peel and slice the onions into slender petals; heat the oil in the pan, and start to fry on a medium-low heat.180 g red onion, 10 ml oil, 1 pinch salt
- Chop the mushrooms into quarters and add to the pan. Stir fry and move around.100 g chestnut mushrooms
- Break sausages up into chunks and add to the pan. Cook through.2 sausages
- Add the garlic and stir through to cook. Then add the tomatoes. Turn the heat to low.2 cloves fresh garlic, 200 g chopped tomatoes
- Beware! You're going to add the seasoning mix and it contains sugar. The likelihood of sticking increases as soon as sugar is added! Sugar loves a sticky burn! Ensure you're on a low heat. Be ready with a little cool water if necessary. Add the seasoning mix.Check it's all coming together.
- Break up some parsley and mix into stew; be sure to add some stalks for added texture. Top with some more parsley torn artfully.15 g flat leaf parsley
To serve
- Sourdough rolls were perfect for this.sourdough rolls
Notes
- Multi-purpose: serve as a main or side; to make into soup, add 200ml of stock. You might need more, depending on how thick you like your soup. If you add too much water, just simmer with the lid off; the water will soon leave! Or if you like it watery but not thin, add one or two teaspoons of cornflour diluted with a little water. Adding water will reduce the flavour from any herbs or spices added to the dish. Don’t forget this! There’s no rule against adding the herbs and spices again in the same ratios. I will always do that if I add water.
- Freezer-friendly: you could make this and freeze but don’t freeze mushrooms, it just doesn’t work. Add those when you’re serving.
- Make-ahead: this works and will sit in the fridge happily but don’t add the mushrooms until service.
- If you’re making at home… any remaining herbs: chop up and put into storage boxes and pop into the fridge. I find supermarket herbs prepped and stored this way last a fair few days. You’ll see that I’ve used the parsley quite large – it’s good like that, it adds good texture and looks great!
Nutrition
Calories: 268kcalCarbohydrates: 23gProtein: 21gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0.02gSodium: 1035mgPotassium: 699mgFiber: 7gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 759IUVitamin C: 27mgCalcium: 81mgIron: 21mg
Nutritional values are estimates only and will vary depending on specific ingredients used. Nutrition is per serving. Information is for the main recipe, not optional accompaniments.
COPYRIGHT
© The Golden Polar Bear, 2026. Recipe and photography by Julia Savory. If you share it, please link back to thegoldenpolarbear.com.
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