Lamb and barley are a classic. Avoid the more expensive cuts; lamb shanks and even lamb neck bones flavor and thicken the stew.

Hunter stew, tomato sauce or gravy?

Grandma was Sicilian and made a thin, soupy sauce. Like most Americans, I like mine thick. A very liquidly stew is a soup; a stew poured over a starch is a gravy or sauce. Stretching one ingredient and pulling back on another creates a different dish, but why bother with a different recipe?