When it comes to dinner parties, cooking a leg or shoulder of lamb is always a good idea – but for a special occasion, such as Easter Sunday lunch, I like the more refined lamb fillet. It has little fat and is ideal for cooking either whole or cut into thick noisettes. This recipe fulfils my personal fantasy of lamb loins individually wrapped in a flaky, buttery, burnished pastry. The stuffing of lactic feta and mouth-puckering sumac borrows flavours from Greece and Lebanon, tart enough to cut through the richness of the red meat. Serve with new potatoes and wilted spinach.
Serves 4
boneless lamb loin fillets 4 × 100g
olive oil 3 tbsp, plus extra for brushing
red onions 3, thinly sliced
thyme 3 sprigs, leaves picked
soft brown sugar 1 tsp
red wine 100ml
feta cheese 150g, well-drained and crumbled
sumac 2 tsp
pine nuts 40g
chopped mint a handful
ready-rolled all-butter puff pastry 1 x 375g sheet
egg yolks 2, lightly beaten
sea salt and black pepper
Brush the lamb fillets with a little olive oil and season with plenty of salt and pepper. Pour 2 tablespoons of the oil into a frying pan over high heat, add the lamb and sear on all sides, including the ends, until the meat has a lovely golden brown crust. Remove from the pan and leave to cool to room temperature.
Wipe out the pan and fry the onions in the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat until softened, then add the thyme and sugar and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are caramelised. Pour in the red wine and let it bubble and reduce until syrupy. Transfer to a bowl and set aside to cool.
Stir the feta, sumac, pine nuts and mint into the cooled onions. On a flour-dusted surface, cut the pastry sheet into 4 rectangles, each large enough to enclose a lamb fillet, leaving a 1cm border at each end. Cut lengthways along each loin to make a pocket, being careful not to go all the way through. Divide the onion mixture evenly between the pockets, then pop a stuffed lamb fillet on each pastry rectangle. Brush the edges of the pastry with beaten egg yolk and fold over the pastry to wrap the lamb, pressing the edges of the pastry with the prongs of a fork to seal. Place the lamb wellingtons, seam side down, on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Glaze with beaten egg yolk, then use the back of a knife to mark each parcel with long diagonal lines, being careful not to cut into the pastry. Chill for at least 1 hour to firm up.
When you’re ready to cook the wellingtons, preheat the oven to 180C fan/gas mark 6 and bake for 25-30 minutes – the pastry will be crisp and golden, and the meat should be cooked to medium.
From Jikoni: Proudly Inauthentic Recipes From an Immigrant Kitchen by Ravinder Bhogal (Bloomsbury, £26)
