Rare Roast Lamb Neck Fillets with Pitta Bread and Cucumber Salad
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Serves 4Difficulty:
Intermediate
This recipe celebrates spring going into summer at it’s best. British lamb should be plentiful. You might find lamb neck fillets a strange choice for a quick cook recipe. As we are still in the beginning of the British new lamb season the lamb neck fillets are a perfect choice. They are still tender early in the season but from July onwards the British lamb matures. Choose lamb pencil fillets instead of the lamb neck fillets for a more tender eat. Ask your local butcher they should be able to advise you.
Baking bread is incredibly satisfactory, for me there is something very pleasing and self-gratifying by baking bread. These pitta breads are no exception, I place the proven pitta breads on a hot griddle pan to bar mark them before baking them in the oven and that smell is simply the best.
This dish can be served as canape, cut small boats from a cucumber, place a dollop of the cucumber yoghurt sauce on each boat and top with a slice of the lamb neck and serve.
Ingredients & Method
For the homemade pitta breads
- 500g strong flour bread flour
- 15g fresh yeast
- 2tbs extra virgin olive oil
- 300ml water
- 1 tsp salt
For the lamb neck fillets
- 480g lamb neck fillets, about four with the average of 120g each
- 1tbs extra virgin olive oil
- zest and juice of one lemon
- Pinch of sumac
- Sea salt and freshly cracked black peppers
For the cucumber yoghurt salad
- 1/4 cucumber
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- 1 spring onion, sliced
- hand full of fresh mint, chopped
- Zest and juice of one lemon
- 150ml natural or Greek yoghurt
- Sea salt and freshly cracked black peppers
First prepare the pitta breads. Weigh the flour into a large mixing bowl and rub the fresh yeast into the flour. Add the salt, olive oil and water. Gradually work the liquids into the flour by using a flexible plastic scraper. Work the dough for about 5 minutes until a smooth and silky texture. Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and let the dough prove until double in size about 40 minutes. Gently turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, divide the dough into 8 even size balls.
Use your finger tips to stretch the dough into oval pitta shaped breads. Lift the dough from the work surface and gently stretch the dough to a even thickness, it does not matter if you, by accident, make a few holes as it adds to the character of the pitta breads. Place the dough shapes on a lightly floured baking tray, cover with a clean tea towel and let the dough prove until double in size about 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Heat a griddle pan till smoking hot, gently lift the pittas and bar mark them on both sides. Place the pittas on the baking tray into the preheated oven for 5 – 7 minutes to ensure the dough cooks through. Remove the pittas from the oven, brush each with extra virgin olive oil and let them cool on a cooling rack until needed.
In the meantime prepare the rest of the recipe. Marinade the lamb neck fillets, toss the lamb with the olive oil, lemon juice, seasoning and sumac. Refridgerate for 20 minutes.
For the cucumber yoghurt salad, remove the seeds from the cucumber using a teaspoon, finely slice the cucumber add the rest of the ingredients and season to taste. Keep the cucumber yoghurt salad in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
To cook the lamb, preheat the oven to 200°C.
Heat a non-stick frying pan over high heat, colour the lamb neck fillets on all sides until golden brown about 6 -7 minutes. Place the fillets on a roasting tray into the preheated oven for 5 – 8 minutes. Let the lamb rest for 5 minutes.
Slice the lamb and serve with the warm pitta breads and cucumber yoghurt salad.
Cooks Notes
This dish can be served as canape, cut small boats from a cucumber, place a dollop of the cucumber yoghurt sauce on each boat and top with a slice of the lamb neck and serve.