Lamb

Crispy lamb breast recipe

4
Print Recipe

Few things beat a simple piece of meat done well. Our crispy lamb recipe uses quality ingredients to let the flavours take centre stage.When it comes to sourcing meat, opt for organic and grass-fed. Lamb is mostly grass-fed in any case, so this is not such an issue, but more generally, eating organic, free-range meat (especially chicken)  helps ensure the meat you’re eating is more likely to be free from antibiotics  and their residues, often used in intensively farmed pork and poultry.

We recommend serving our lamb recipe with a delicious wild garlic salsa verde, potato fries and a watercress salad. Wild garlic is a staple throughout spring, but if you can’t get your hands on any, feel free to swap the wild garlic for watercress. Alternatively, dried wild garlic can make a useful addition to any kitchen cupboard.

Watercress is something of a wellbeing wonder too. It’s a good source of vital minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and manganese, as well as vitamin K and A. These all help to promote strong teeth and good bone health and can safeguard against conditions such as brittle bones and osteoporosis. Watercress also helps to protect against harmful rays from the sun due to the presence of vitamin C and vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene). These act as powerful antioxidants to help combat the excess free radicals that can lead to wrinkles and fine lines appearing

Discover more recipes like this

Ingredients

  • 1.5kg (organic) lamb breast, ribs in
  • Drizzle of honey
  • 800g russet potatoes

For the salsa verde

  • 200g wild garlic (or use watercress instead)
  • 2 garlic cloves (8-10 more if you can't get wild garlic)
  • 8 anchovy fillets (preserved in olive oil)
  • 70g fresh parsley
  • 50g fresh mint
  • 2 tbsp capers
  • 100ml extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 lemon, zest and a squeeze
  • Honey, to taste

Method

  1. Start the day before ideally, making the salsa verde by hand-chopping all the ingredients and mixing them together. Keep half of the salsa to the side to serve with the lamb (covered in the fridge overnight).
  2. Place your lamb in a large dish and pour over the rest of the salsa verde, massaging it in. Wrap the lamb in tin foil or cling film and pop in the fridge overnight (or for a few hours at least).
  3. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Lay the lamb in a large roasting tray, along with the salsa verde it’s been marinading in. Place the roasting tin in the oven, covered in tin foil for an hour. Check it and baste in the juices, then pop it back in the oven at 170°C/340°F/gas mark 3 for another hour. After checking to see it’s cooking nicely, remove the tin foil and put back in at 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 for a further half an hour. For the final half hour, drizzle with honey and crank the heat up to 200°C to make sure the skin goes crispy.
  4. Meanwhile, prep the fries by cutting the potatoes into 1/2cm slices, then into shoe string-style fries. Place in cold water to remove the starch for half an hour, then dry out with a tea towel (bundle up in the tea towel and squeeze out the excess water by twisting both ends and wringing out).
  5. When the lamb is cooked and crispy, take it out of the oven and rest on a board, covered, with some of the juices to keep it moist. Transfer the cut potatoes into the now-empty tray, so they cook in the lamb oil and juices (drain off any excess oil if needed). Turn the oven back down to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 5 and cook for around 30 minutes.
  6. Serve the lamb by cutting it into chunks, with dollops of the reserved fresh salsa verde on top, the fries alongside and a lightly oiled, well-seasoned watercress salad.