Fillet of lamb with ballotine of lamb breasts by Richard Neat
INGREDIENTS
(serves four)
2 fillet loins from best end of lamb
200g lamb sweetbreads
Butter
Salt and pepper
Rosemary
1 Savoy cabbage
100g chicken breast
½ egg white
100ml double cream
Garlic purée
6 cooked lamb tongues (optional)
For garnish cooked carrots, green beans, small onions, lamb jus (made from mirepoix and the roasted bones from the best end of lamb)
METHOD
Blanch lamb sweetbreads, peel off membrane and fry in very hot butter. Season. Add chopped rosemary to taste. Set aside and cool.
Strip leaves from Savoy cabbage and cook in boiling water. Refresh and dry.
Make a chicken mousse by blending the chicken breast and half of the egg white. Add the double cream. Season and pass.
Flatten the cabbage leaves with a rolling pin. Mix lamb sweetbreads with a small amount of chicken mousse. Place mousse in the centre of cabbage leaves and roll up to form a ballotine, then secure with buttered aluminium paper. Steam for about 10 minutes (make sure you reserve some cabbage leaves to wrap the loins in).
Cut lamb loins into four pieces. Caramelise on all sides in very hot butter. (The lamb should still be completely raw in the middle.) Spread the pieces with garlic purée.
Roll out remaining cabbage leaves as thinly as possible. Spread with garlic purée, place a piece of lamb on each and roll up tightly in a sheet of clingfilm.
Steam lamb for five minutes. Rest for five minutes. Slice ballotine of lamb sweetbreads, fry each slice in butter. Slice the lamb tongues then flour and fry.
Heat the vegetable garnish. Place on a plate with a slice of ballotine on top. Unwrap lamb loins, slice, season and arrange on top of sweetbread ballotine.
Add the fried tongues and pour around the lamb jus.
Richard Neat