Rack of lamb with cauliflower pesto by Eric Snaith

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Ingredients

For the lamb

  • 4 x three-bone French trimmed rack of RSPCA Assured lamb
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 2 sprigs of thyme and rosemary

For the pesto

  • ½ a cauliflower
  • 15g pine nuts, toasted and chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 10g parmesan, grated
  • ½ a Fairtrade lemon, zested and juiced
  • 40g Fairtrade extra virgin olive oil

For the fried cauliflower

  • 4x medium size cauliflower florets (approx 1½ inch diameter)

For the pan juices

  • 500g chicken stock, reduced to 100g

For the potato pie

  • 4 Maris Piper potatoes or similar
  • 150g unsalted butter
  • 4 sheets of feuille de brick pastry
  • 2 RSPCA Assured egg yolks
Method
  • Peel potatoes and cut into even sizes, boil in salted water until soft, drain and mash through a potato ricer or by hand.
  • Beat in 150g unsalted butter and season with salt. Allow to cool to room temperature.
  • For each of the four pies, mould the potato into a sausage shape and place in the middle of a sheet of pastry. Brush pastry with egg yolk and roll into a tight cylinder, roll up the edges with more egg and then chill it in the fridge.
  • Preheat the oven to 190°C/ fan 170°C/Gas 5. Heat a frying pan and add a little oil, seal the lamb on all sides until it is golden brown, on a medium to high heat.
  • Add the garlic, herbs and butter and transfer everything to a roasting tin. Cook for 15-20 minutes. The meat should feel rare.
  • Remove from oven and baste with pan juices, season. Allow it to rest for at least 10 minutes.
  • Take 2 tablespoons of lamb cooking juices and combine with the reduced chicken stock, season with salt and a little lemon juice.
  • With a knife carefully shave the outer florets of cauliflower and finely chop (it should look like cous cous).
  • Cook in a little olive oil over a medium heat for 2 minutes.  Allow it to cool, then add nuts, parmesan, garlic, olive oil, lemon zest and season with freshly milled black pepper, salt and lemon juice.
  • Deep fry the cauliflower florets in vegetable oil at 180°C until they are golden brown. Season them and dry them on a paper towel.
  • To serve - deep fry the potato pies until they are golden brown, carefully cut the ends off with a serrated knife and then cut in half to achieve 2 small cylinders.
  • Spoon the pesto on to the plate, add the potato pies, then carve the lamb rack into cutlets and alternate with fried cauliflower. Finish with the lamb cooking juices.

This delicious recipe was created by Eric Snaith, head chef at Titchwell Manor and appears in The Freedom Food Celebrity Recipe Collection.

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