Recipes: A real three-course Easter feast

Aaron McLean

Slow-roast lamb with white bean puree and mint salad.

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Starter: Lamb & vegetable broth
Main: Slow-roast lamb with white bean puree & mint salad
Cuisine magazine, March 2015
Dessert: Apple tart
SLOW-ROAST LAMB WITH WHITE BEAN PUREE & MINT SALAD / LAMB & VEGETABLE BROTH
Both serve 8
The stock from cooking the lamb for the main dish goes into making a simple but very tasty soup to serve as an
entree.
Ingredients:
1 large bunch parsley
12 carrots, halved lengthwise and widthwise
2 onions, quartered
2 stalks celery, halved
3 sprigs rosemary
3kg lamb shoulder, cut into 6 pieces

300g small pasta such as ditalini, trofie liguri (as we used), fregola or orzo
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup tomato paste
500ml good-quality lamb or vegetable stock
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 150C. Pick the leaves from the parsley and reserve for the salad. Put the parsley stalks
with 3 of the carrots, the onions, celery and rosemary over the base of a large roasting dish. Arrange the lamb
pieces on top and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
2. Pour 1 litre of water into the bottom of the dish and cover the whole dish tightly with tinfoil. Roast in the oven
for 4 hours.
3. Carefully remove the meat, cover and set aside. Drain the liquid from the vegetables, discarding the
vegetables and reserving the liquid. Skim the fat off the top.

4. To make the soup, bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil then add the pasta and remaining carrots.
Cook for 5 minutes then drain, reserving the liquid and separating the carrots and pasta.
5. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large saucepan. Add the tomato paste and fry, stirring constantly, for 3
minutes. Add the drained carrot and pasta liquid plus the stock and bring to the boil. Taste and season with salt if
necessary. Add the partially cooked pasta and boil until al dente then serve the soup in heated bowls.
6. To finish the lamb, preheat the oven to 220C. Put the lamb in a roasting dish, season and arrange the
reserved, partially cooked carrots around it then drizzle with the remaining olive oil.

7. Cook on a high shelf for 15-20 minutes until the lamb and carrots are hot and browned. Put the lamb and
carrots on one or two platters and arrange the mint salad alongside. Serve with the white bean puree.
MINT SALAD
Dress this salad just before you serve it as the vinegar will turn the mint brown.
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 large mild red chilli, sliced
zest of 1 lemon
large bunch of mint, leaves only
6 spring onions, sliced
Method:
1. Heat the vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan until the sugar has dissolved. Add the chilli and lemon zest
and set aside to cool. This is the dressing.
2. In a bowl, combine the mint leaves with the reserved parsley leaves and the spring onions. Just before
serving, toss the salad with the dressing.
WHITE BEAN PUREE
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, sliced
3 x 400g cans white beans (we used cannellini and butter beans), drained, rinsed
5 tablespoons lemon juice
extra virgin olive oil to serve
Method:
1. In a large saucepan, gently heat the oil and garlic until the garlic is soft but not browned. Add the beans, cover
and heat through for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add the lemon juice and blend to a puree with a stick blender or in a food processor, adding boiling water as
required to achieve a thick puree. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. The puree can be gently
reheated just before serving. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil before serving.
APPLE TART
Serves 6-8

Apple compote
Ingredients:
3 apples (we used Granny Smith), peeled, cored, chopped
3 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons caster sugar
Method:
1. Put all the ingredients in a saucepan with 2 tablespoons water. Cover with a lid and cook over a low heat until
the fruit has softened and begun to break down. Remove the cinnamon and cloves and set the compote aside to
cool.
For the pastry
Ingredients:
200g flour
2 tablespoons icing sugar
100g unsalted butter, chilled, cubed
Method:

1. In a food processor, combine the flour and icing sugar and pulse to mix. Add the butter and pulse to a fine
crumb. Add 4 tablespoons chilled water and pulse a few times until large lumps have formed.
2. Tip the dough on to a clean bench and bring together with your hands. Form into a round, wrap in plastic wrap
and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
To assemble
Ingredients:
flour for dusting
4 apples, cored, cut in half
juice of 1/2 a lemon
3 tablespoons apricot jam or honey mixed with boiling water to a brushing consistency
1 tablespoon caster sugar
whipped cream, ice cream or thick Greek yoghurt to serve
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200C and put a baking tray in the oven. Place a sheet of baking paper on a bench and
lightly dust with flour. Take the dough out of the fridge, unwrap and place it on the baking paper.
2. Dust lightly with flour then put another piece of baking paper on top. Roll the pastry to 4mm thick and use it to
line a 24cm tart tin, trimming the edges. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
3. Spread the compote over the pastry. Cut the apples into 3mm slices and mix with the lemon juice. Arrange the
slices over the compote, working from the outside into the centre and slightly overlapping. Brush the apple with
half the jam and sprinkle with the sugar.
4. Transfer the tart to the hot baking tray (preheating the baking tray will help ensure the pastry is cooked). Bake
for 40 minutes or until golden. Glaze with the remaining jam then allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Serve while warm with whipped cream, ice cream or yoghurt.
This article first featured in Issue 164 of Cuisine Magazine. For more like this, visit cuisine.co.nz or
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