When you’re cooking for a special occasion, you want to nail a few key points. First, your recipes must be foolproof; you don’t want a disaster on the big day. Second, they must be simple to serve so you can relax and enjoy yourself. Three when you’re trying to impress someone, your food should look great as well. My first recipe fits the bill perfectly.
Stuffed lamb with spinach and pine nuts stuffed meats are perfect for special occasions because they look impressive and taste amazing, but more importantly because they are so simple to make. It’s a saddle of lamb that’s basically a Rolls-Royce cut that’s perfectly shaped and it’s perfect for stuffing. For the stuffing, finely chop an onion and garlic into nice thin slices.
Onions and garlic are sautéed in oil in [Music]. seasoning with salt and pepper Make sure the stuffing is beautifully seasoned so that it helps to season the inside of the lamb now that we’ve got the color on those onions we’re going to throw in some pine nuts to give a bit of texture here’s where it gets really exciting
Spinach in and just lay the spinach over the pine nuts it looks like a lot of spinach that’s going to condense and disappear almost instantly there’s so much more flavor in spinach when you sauté it rather than steaming or boiling it gas off look at that now to bring that together no eggs no breadcrumbs The crumbled feta cheese on top of the spinach feta cheese adds a beautifully salty touch.
The flavor is sharp and creamy. This brings the stuffing together. Now open up the lamb and keep those little fillets to the side; that’s the channel we want to stuff, so I just want to open that up a little bit there and season lightly with salt and pepper.
And before we put our stuffing in, we’re going to season it with sour sumac, which is a wonderful lemony spice that goes brilliantly with lamb and you can find it in most big supermarkets and it sort of cuts through that thick rich sweetness of the lamb open up that lamb there take a spoon if you’re preparing this for the day ahead then let the stuffing cool
It’s unavoidable that something will squeeze out when you start rolling and tying it, so load up the ends with these beauties, these little fillets, and just support that stuffing and sort of increase that beautiful tunnel, and then from there over there and bring that towards you.
And then roll, as I mentioned, some of the stuff will come out now that we’ve tied it first off around the side, and don’t worry about some flash butcher’s knot just tie it one in the middle you can get butcher string from your local butcher or at cookware shops I got two ties
Going too Thai just forces all that stuffing out of the lamb when it’s in the oven nice now we just season the top of it the joint to make sure all the skin gets seasoned now you think normally that just goes in the oven like that’s how my mum would do it but get your tray onto the gas oil in it really nicely colored
None of your stuffing is coming out the sides, which is important because the colors are stunning. Start the roasting process by turning off the gas and placing the lamb in the oven for 45 to 55 minutes, depending on how pink you want your lamb to be. the lamb out of the fat to rest resting it raised up in the tin will stop it cooking but not cool it down too quickly and means you won’t lose any of the fat
Those lovely juices next I’m making a simple but sophisticated accompaniment for the lamb top and tell the cucumber peel it cut the cucumber into three and just core taking out all that it’s just sort of watery seedy and it spoils the flavor slice the cucumber in a really nice way of making a salad.
We’re going to dress that cucumber with a nice fresh yogurt couple of tablespoons next to some fresh mint dressing a touch of salt a touch of pepper and then pomegranate molasses that just sweeten it up to finish that with a lemon mix that up lamb it’s rested
Remove the string carefully and then gently pull them back straightened edge knife that’s going to cut through that crispy fat on the outside instantly I tied it on purpose so I can get my portion control from the lines Hold it firmly, look at your line where the string was, and look at how amazing this one is going to be. Lying down and lying down.
Just those two slices demonstrate why stuffing meat is reserved for special occasions because that is the saddle of lamb at its finest. Stuffing meats and fish not only makes them look great, but it also adds a flavor dimension to them. Once you’ve mastered the technique, you’ll be able to create dishes that will ensure you have an unforgettable feast.
