Recipes for Ash Wednesday and Lent from the Archives
Soup for Ash Wednesday and Fast meals
knob of butter
1 onion
1 potato
broccoli stem and a few flowers
1 carrot
1 stick of celery
1 parsnip
a handful of red lentils
1½ pints of stock
salt and pepper to taste
Cut vegetables into bite size pieces.
Melt the butter gently in a saucepan and cook all the vegetables except the broccoli and lentils for 5 minutes stirring occasionally.
Add stock, lentils and broccoli.
Simmer for about 30 minutes.
Serves 2/3.
Soups would have been made with the left overs and odd bits and pieces, this is a good opportunity to clear the vegetable drawer of your fridge and adapt the recipe.
Plain Plum Pudding for abstinence on Ash Wednesday
1lb of raisins
½ lb suet
1lb flour
4oz breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons of treacle or golden syrup
1 pint of milk
nutmeg and glazed ginger
Steam for 4 hours.
Plain biscuits for Lent
The texture of these plain biscuits is more similar to that of pastry than biscuits.
1lb flour
2½ oz butter
2½ oz lard
milk
Mix all the ingredients together as for pastry with a little milk. Roll out and cut into rounds, prick them and bake to a nice crisp.

