Hello chefs of Wales. I've never made cawl before because I'm not a "real" Welsh person being from Flintshire with an English mum but my Italian housemate wanted to try delicious Welsh cuisine so I gave it a go.

I followed the recipe from Blas y Tir, link below, and had a couple of questions. It's impossible to get Caerphilly cheese here in Cambridge so I used a "crumbly and sharp" variety of mature Lancashire which I'm hoping is a close approximation. No idea how caws Caerphilly is meant to be tbh. Any recommendations on a better substitute?

The recipe calls for enough food to feed a family for a week and we soon realised we don't have a pot big enough. I'm worried about the now seemingly small ratio of meat (600g) to what must be 2kg of veg. Does this sound fine?

Secondly. I put the leeks in first despite the recipe saying to cook them last. I felt as though they might do more to flavour tzhe broth in the absence of onion than as a standalone vegetable.

I don't have a mum or a nan I can ask these questions so if anyone wants to be my mam or my nain I'd be grateful. Thanks

Also, is anyone else here always surprised and a little infuriated that Welsh ingredients are hard to get in England or just me? I know I can't get welsh cheese or lamb here but fuck me if I don't try.

https://blasytir.com/recipes/traditional-welsh-lamb-cawl