Rolled lamb breast with herbs, lemon and tomatoes
An under-rated cut, lamb breast comes from the same part of the animal as belly pork, which we know and love. Cooked well, it is tasty and tender, so give it a go. You need breasts from a decent-sized animal – consider asking your butcher for hogget breasts, which will be larger and meatier.
Servs 4
Method
Take the lamb out of the fridge around 30 minutes before cooking, to bring it to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 230°C/220°C Fan/Gas 8. Put the tomatoes, tomato purée, lemon zest and juice, garlic and herbs into a bowl, mix together well and season with salt and pepper.
Lay the lamb breast out flat, flesh side up, on a clean surface. Smear the tomato mixture evenly all over the surface to cover generously. Starting from a short side, roll up the lamb to form a fat roll. Tie securely with butcher’s string every 2–3cm, then season the outside with salt and pepper.
Place the rolled lamb breast in a roasting tray and roast
in the oven for about 30 minutes until deep golden brown on the outside. Add a glass of water to the tray and lower the oven to 170°C/150°C Fan/Gas 3. Roast the lamb for a further 2 hours until the meat is tender.
Now turn the oven up to 230°C/220°C Fan/Gas 8 for 15 minutes to crisp up the outside of the lamb.
Take the tray from the oven and leave the lamb to rest in a warm place for 5–10 minutes, then remove the string and carve into slices. I like to serve it with Five-root bash (page 207) and/or Roast purple sprouting broccoli with kimchi butter (page 175).
Swaps:
For something a bit different, try stuffing the lamb with a mixture of black pudding and gooseberries.
Ingredients
2 lamb or hogget breasts (about 500g each)
4 ripe tomatoes, chopped into 1cm pieces
2 tbsp tomato purée
Finely grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped A small bunch of parsley, leaves picked and roughly chopped 3 sprigs of mint, leaves picked and roughly chopped
A small bunch of coriander, roughly chopped
Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
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