ROLLED LAMB BREAST WITH HERBS, LEMON AND TOMATOES

An underrated cut, lamb breast comes from the same part of the animal as belly pork, which we already know and love. Cooked well, this is tasty and tender, so do give it a go. You will need breasts from a decent-sized animal – consider asking your butcher for hogget (lamb aged between one and two years) as the breasts will be larger and meatier.

SERVES 4

H 2 lamb or hogget breasts (about 500g each)

H 4 ripe tomatoes, chopped into 1cm cubes

H 2 tbsp tomato purée

H finely grated zest and juice of 2 lemons

H 3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

H small bunch of parsley, leaves picked and roughly chopped

H 3 sprigs of mint, leaves picked and roughly chopped

H small bunch of coriander, roughly chopped

H sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

1 Around 30 minutes before cooking, take the lamb out of the fridge to bring it to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 230C/220C fan/gas 8. Put the tomatoes, tomato purée, lemon zest and juice, garlic and herbs in a bowl, mix together well and season to taste with salt and pepper.

2 Lay the lamb breasts out flat, flesh side up. Smear the tomato mixture evenly all over the surface of each to cover generously. Starting from a short side, roll up each breast, tying securely with butcher’s string every 2cm-3cm, then season the whole of each roll with salt and pepper.

3 Place in a roasting tray and roast in the oven for about 30 minutes or until deep golden brown on the outside.

Add a glass of water to the tray and lower the oven to 170C/ 150C fan/gas 3. Roast the lamb for a further 2 hours until the meat is tender.

4 Now turn the oven back up to 230C/220C fan/gas 8 for 15 minutes to crisp the lamb. 5 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 each roll into slices.

SWAPS

For something a little different, try stuffing the lamb with a mixture of black pudding and gooseberries.