On the first Tuesday of every month we like to head down to Guildford High Street to marvel at all the delicious, locally produced foods and compile a recipe for you based on ingredients we have managed to buy- here’s our offering for the June Farmers Market. We try and support businesses by buying some tasty little treats and picking up fantastic fresh food to cook great meals for under £5 a person. Doing this shows that you don’t need to break the bank to eat healthy food that is locally grown, sourced, produced and manufactured.
June is such a beautiful month for fresh ingredients and this meal really is just a blend of a few simple, but earthy ingredients. Lamb with basil is a classic combination and although there is usually a fantastic stall at Guildford Farmers Market selling fresh herbs, you could forage for those and some wild mushrooms if you know exactly where and what you are looking for. If, like myself, you have no previous experience in this, please do not attempt to pick wild ingredients as this can be dangerous. Instead, trust in the knowledgeable stall holders to grab you the right stuff to make up this dish. This is a real rustic meal, relying on some fine flavours like the lemon and chard, but some fresh bread or mashed potato can be added on the side to give it a little extra bulk if wanted.
Ingredients:
4 Lamb chops or cutlets
Fresh basil
Fresh flat leaf parsley
Fresh thyme
2 large handfuls of Pine nuts
A palette of seasonal mushrooms
1 lemon
5-6 tablespoons of Balsamic Vinegar
Extra virgin oil
Fresh Chard
Potatoes for mashing (optional)
Cooking time: 30 mins
Serves: 2
Instructions:
- If you would like to make the meal a little more substantial with mashed potatoes then first bring a pan of water to the boil and add the potatoes and a little salt. Everything else should be done over the next 20-25 minutes as they cook.
- Bash up your thyme in a pestle and mortar, add some oil and mix. Rub the oil over the lamb and season thoroughly on both sides before putting to one side.
- Place the mushrooms onto a dry griddle pan and cook for a couple of minutes on a Barbeque or hot plate, turning before they stick to the pan. Once they have started to mark, take them off the heat and place in a bowl.
- Now put the lamb onto the bars and cook for approximately 3-4 minutes on each side or until golden, setting aside into the bowl with the mushrooms when done.
- Drizzle with a little olive oil and a good squeeze of lemon juice whilst also tearing up the parsley and sprinkling over. Season and toss, letting the mushrooms suck up the juices.
- Bring a pan of water to the boil and tear or cut the leaves of the chard off their stalks, discarding the tough stalks and adding the leaves to a steaming pan above. Leave for approximately 5 mins and continue onto the next steps, but remove later whilst the leaves still have colour.
- Using the pestle and mortar again, pound up the pine nuts until they are more like a mushy paste so that the sauce will have a creamy flavour. Remove and then bash the basil into a pulp.
- Add the basil to the pine nuts and add some extra virgin oil to loosen. Then add balsamic vinegar to taste- the sauce should be tangy almost like a mint sauce, but not too overpowering.
- If cooking potatoes, then drain and mash with some fresh parsley and a little cream or milk and butter until there is a smooth and creamy texture.
- Serve the potatoes and chard and plate up the lamb and mushrooms with lemon wedges and the basil sauce. Enjoy!
James Martin