Chargrilled lamb with peppers and eggplant purre
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When I was growing up, I never saw spring lamb, hut I have come to love its sweet flavor. Like so many of the recipes in our kitchen, this uses I ingredients that all come into season together. There is a hit of French technique in use here. If I were making this in a purely Italian way, I would probably cook the eggplant and peppers together, hut we have separated them, to concentrate the flavors (this way of cooking and pureeing eggplants, so that the seeds look a little like fish eggs, is also known as "eggplant caviar"). Beyond that, there are no tricks, the flavor comes simply from the freshness and quality of the ingredients.
ingredients
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serves: 4
2 eggplants (pale egg-shaped ones if you can find them)
2 cloves garlic
sprig of rosemary
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 onion (cut into about 3/4-inch dice)
1 red pepper (deseeded and cut into about 3/4-inch dice)
1 yellow pepper (deseeded and cut into about 3/4-inch dice)
3 spring onions
1 tablespoon tomato paste
small bunch of basil
1 tablespoon tomato passata
4 lamb fillets (each about 6 ounces)
8 tablespoons Lamb sauce
2 handfuls of mixed greens
2 tablespoons Giorgio's vinaigrette
salt and pepper
Servings Per Recipe: 4
Amount per Serving
Calories: 969
- Total Fat: 81.2 g
- Saturated Fat: 23.3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Cholesterol: 125.4 mg
- Sodium: 303.4 mg
- Total Carbs: 29.5 g
- Dietary Fiber: 12.1 g
- Sugars: 10.7 g
- Protein: 34.1 g
preparation
1. Preheat the even to 425°F. Halve the eggplants lengthwise, then 2 place them en a work surface, skin side down. Using a sharp knife, score the flesh quite deeply at an angle one way and then the ether way, to give a diamond pattern. Slice the garlic quite thick and slot the pieces into the cuts in the eggplants at random — about 2 pieces per half of eggplant. Push some leaves of rosemary into some of the other slots. Put the halves of eggplant hack together, so that you new have 2 “whole" ones again, and wrap in foil. Put en a baking tray and put in the even fer 25 to 3O minutes (the eggplants need to be well cooked — if you push your finger against them, it should make a dent).
2. While the eggplants are cooking, heat a saucepan, add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, then put in the onions and cook gently for about 5 minutes, without allowing them to color. Add the peppers, season and cover with a lid. Cook for about 10 to 15 minutes, checking every now and again. Tho peppers should be just soft, neither mushy nor crunchy. Take the pan off the heat and keep to one side.
3. When the eggplants are cooked, remove the foil, than take out the garlic and rosemary. Spoon out the eggplant flesh into a colander and leave to cool and drain. When cool, chop it fine.
4. Heat 2 more tablespoons of the oil in a saucepan, add the spring onions and cook gently for a few minutes, then add the chopped eggplant flesh and the tomato paste, and cook for about 5 minutes. If you feel the eggplants are still too wet, continue cooking a little longer until they lose their moisture. Season.
5. While the eggplants are cooking, put the pan containing the peppers back on the boat. Add the basil and tomato passata, and simmer to let any excess liquid evaporate (take care not to overcook the peppers — if they start to get soft, just strain eff the excess liquid instead). Stir in 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
6. While that is simmering, heat a griddle pan until smoking. Season the lamb and brush with a little of the olive oil. Put the lamb on the griddle pan and cook for about 2 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness (this will give pink meat, so cook longer if you prefer). Take off the heat and keep warm.
7. Warm up the lamb sauce in a small pan. Season the salad leaves and toss with the vinaigrette.
8. Spoon the eggplant puree onto one side of the warmed plates, put the peppers in the middle, and the salad en the ether side.
9. Slice the lamb, if you like, or leave the fillets whole, and place on top of the peppers. Spoon 2 tablespoons of lamb sauce per person over the meat, and finally drizzle a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil over.
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comments
Mommy_loves_to_cook
September 1, 2011