MINT CRUSTED RUMP OF WELSH LAMB AND TURNIP GRATIN

Ingredients

2 x 7oz lamb rumps – trimmed 2 small swedes

1 large potato

50g fresh breadcrumbs

25g chopped mint

1 teaspoon melted butter Half pint whipping cream 1 teaspoon grated parmesan 1 clove garlic Salt/pepper

25g cheddar

Method

Peel and thinly slice swede and potatoes, layer in oven-proof dish, season with salt and pepper.

Mix cream and crushed garlic together, pour over above and bake in 180°C oven for 35 minutes or until soft and golden brown on top, then sprinkle with cheddar. Return to oven for 5 minutes or grill to glaze the cheese.

Heat up frying pan, seal the lamb rump on all sides until nicely browned. Place in oven at 180°C for 18 minutes. Then take out and rest lamb for 5 minutes.

Combine breadcrumbs, melted butter mint and parmesan to make a nice crust. Then press on to rested lamb and return to the oven for 5 minutes.

Place a generous spoon of gratin into bowl or plate, thinly slice the lamb rump and arrange on to gratin. Then spoon over juices from the lamb and eat immediately. And if you are feeling creative, you can decorate the dish with roasted parsnip crisps.

FINALLY got to go out last week and enjoy a bit of outdoor dining at The Priory in Caerleon. Nice little lamb kofta-type dish with pickled red cabbage and chips.

Simple, very tasty and all washed down with a glass or two of MARQUES DE CACERES EXCELLENS ROSÉ, RIOJA, 2018 (£9.99, Fine Wines Direct UK, Cardiff).

The tasty rosé reminded me of a few pinks that have passed my lips in previous weeks.

It’s a versatile wine that suits many dishes and is taken a lot more seriously than it was in the past as we get exposed to more and more top-quality variety.

The Chilean VIU MANENT RESERVA MALBEC ROSÉ 2019 (£9.75, Mr Wheeler, £9.35, Bon Coeur Fine Wines and £11.99, Hennings) uses grapes from the historic vineyard of San Carlos in the Valle De Colchagua. The assertive nose has weighty red fruits that carry some rich red plum fruit.

In the mouth the bone-dry entry has zippy acidity soaking the palate with the juicy fruit.

Not at all confected but accurate and fresh, with a little dash of acidity through the mid-palate.

Quite meaty toward the finish and the type of wine that could take all that is thrown at it off the barbecue.

The RICASOLI ALBIA ROSÉ 2019 (RRP £13-£15, Waitrose) is made in a rather unique manner from younger, fresh Sangiovese and Merlot grapes grown on the family’s estate vineyards. The Merlot is made as a classic rosé style, then blended with the Sangiovese, which is vinified as a white wine without any skin contact.

The result has the elegant mineral-laden perfume of the brightest red fruits. On the palate the fruit absolutely blasts across the tastebuds. Mouthfilling and very refreshing, with a citrus lift. I tasted this well-chilled and the wine worked beautifully as an aperitif, but if left in the glass the criss-cross of textures from the merlot and sangiovese really show up.

A delicious drop of Tuscan pink in an elegant bottle.

Finally, from the brilliant Calmel and Joseph stable in the Languedoc comes the CALMEL & JOSEPH ‘AMSTRAMGRAM’ CÉRÈS ROSÉ (Daniel Lambert Ltd, Bridgend).

The nose is jam-packed with fruit, with some stonefruits mingling with cherry and more exotic notes of mango.

In the mouth there is a little spice tone too, which gives the wine a lift across the tastebuds.

The blended cinsault, grenache and mourvedre combine to offer light and shade and a glorious mouthfeel.

Complex, refreshing and wellbalanced, this is the style of pink that will sit with a whole gamut of food styles.

And as we say in the ’Port, an absolute banger.