I had never cooked lamb before, but when I took part in a Six Nations Rugby themed dinner, where each person contributed a dish, and I was allocated Wales, I felt that Welsh lamb was the way to go. I cobbled this together from several recipes, but the sauce is mostly from a Neil Rankin recipe. I served this as a light starter, but it would do just as well with some salad or vegetables as a light main course.
Ingredients
- 1 bulb of garlic
- 1 red chilli
- 50g of anchovy fillets in oil
- 25g of flat leaf parsley
- 1 lemon
- 100ml of vegetable oil
- Salt and pepper
- Several sprigs of rosemary
- 4 or 8 lamb leg steaks
- 250ml of dry white wine
- Cos lettuce
Method
- First I made the sauce, which can be in advance if needs be. Take half the garlic cloves, peel them and put them in a saucepan. Cover with cold water, bring to the boil, then drain. Cover with cold water again, bring to the boil and so on another two times.
- De-seed the chilli and chop it into rough chunks.
- Peel the lemon, squeeze the seeds out and put the juice and pulp into a food processor.
- Add the chilli, boiled garlic, parsley, anchovies, oil, and one sprig's worth of rosemary leaves into the food processor. Season with salt and pepper, and blitz to a smooth sauce. Put the sauce in the fridge.
- Now for the lamb. Heat the oven to 190°C.
- Peel and slice the remaining garlic.
- Heat a little oil in a frying pan and sauté the sliced garlic and remaining rosemary sprigs for a minute or two. Then remove from the pan.
- Season the lamb steaks and add them to the pan for a minute or two on each side to brown them. Then place the steaks in an oven-proof dish.
- Pour the wine into the frying pan to deglaze it, scraping up the brown goodness. Add back the garlic and rosemary, then pour this liquid over the lamb.
- Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Keep that frying pan handy though.
- Once the lamb is baked, remove the steaks from the liquid and discard the rosemary.
- Pour the cooking liquid back into the frying pan and reduce it over a high heat until syrupy.
- Meanwhile, slice the lamb into thin slices. Then toss them in the syrupy reduction.
- Separate and clean the lettuce leaves to act as dishes for the lamb. Place slices of lamb into each lettuce boat, drizzle over the sauce you made earlier, and serve, with extra sauce on the side for those who want it.
- Recite with feeling: "Every day, when I wake up, I thank the Lord I'm Welsh."
