Roast Rump of Herb-Crusted Lake District Lamb 

• Recipes
• 4th April 2018
• Cumbria Guide

The newly released, Lakes and Cumbria Cook Book features recipes and stories from some of the region’s best independent restaurants, cafés, bars and bakeries. 

Here’s one of the recipes from the book.

Mrs Miller’s Tea Room – Roast Rump of Herb-Crusted Lake District Lamb

This dish makes great use of the fantastic lamb that we have available to us in the Eden valley.

The lamb we use at Mrs Miller’s comes from just down the road. Served with creamed flageolet beans and winter vegetables, and accentuated by the meat juices mingled with fresh garden mint, this is a gorgeous dish celebrating some wonderful seasonal flavours. 

Preparation time: 30 minutes | Cooking time: approx. 1 hour| Serves: 4 

Ingredients: 

4 lamb rumps 

Salt and pepper 

3 sprigs of rosemary 

5 cloves of garlic 

100ml olive oil 

200g breadcrumbs 

A handful of soft green herbs (sage, parsley, dill, chives, tarragon or basil for example) 

1 sprig of thyme 

1 small onion, cut into small dice 

1 carrot, cut into small dice 

Vegetable oil 

1 courgette, cut into small dice 

1 x 400g tin of flageolet beans, drained 

50ml cream 

500ml thickened lamb stock 

1 tsp redcurrant jelly 

A handful of fresh mint 

1 tbsp Cumberland honey mustard 

Method: 

• Start by trimming most of the fat from the lamb rumps, but not all. Place into a plastic tub or a non-metallic roasting dish and season with salt and pepper, two sprigs of rosemary (coarsely chopped) and two cloves of garlic (smashed with a knife). Pour over the olive oil and mix well with your hands to ensure all the flavours get to know each other. Place to one side to allow the lamb to come to room temperature. 
• Place one peeled and chopped garlic clove, the breadcrumbs and the soft green herbs into a food blender. Pick the remaining rosemary and thyme leaves off the stalk and add to the blender. Pulse until you have a nice bright green herb crumb. Place into a bowl and keep to one side.  
• Place the diced onion and carrot into a pan with a splash of vegetable oil, a pinch of salt and one clove of garlic (crushed with the back of a knife). Sweat over a low heat until the carrots are soft, then add the courgettes and cook until all the vegetables are tender. Set aside.  
• Preheat the oven to 200°c and heat an ovenproof pan on the hob. Remove any excess herbs and garlic from the lamb, place the pieces into the pan fat side down and start to colour. The fat should start to turn nice and golden and render down. Once the fat is golden, place the lamb into the preheated oven for 14 minutes. Then remove the pan from the oven and leave in a warm place to rest and finish cooking through. The resting of the meat is very important for both texture and flavour.  
• While the lamb is resting, rinse the beans well, then place them into the pan the lamb was cooked in, having discarded any excess fat. Add the precooked vegetables, cream, thickened lamb stock and redcurrant jelly and bring to the boil. When you have a sauce-like consistency, sieve and add the mint. Keep the sauce warm while finishing the lamb rumps. Place them into the roasting tray fat side down and cover the top with a thin layer of the mustard and a nice coating of herb crust. Place back in the oven for 5 minutes.  

To serve 

Place the beans, vegetables and cream onto a high heat and cook until the cream starts to reduce and coat the vegetables, and ensure the sauce is hot. Remove the lamb from the oven and divide each piece into 3 or 4 slices. Rest whilst you divide the creamed beans and vegetables between four plates then place the lamb on top. Finish with the sauce. 

Taken from  The Lakes and Cumbria Cook Book, out now for £14.95.

http://www.mrsmillersculgaith.co.uk/