Peppered Lamb with asparagus, white bean puree and spring salad
Sarah Irvine, 26 years old, Christchurch
Peppered Lamb with asparagus, white bean puree and spring salad
500grms haricot beans
1 lamb loin
Grape seed oil
6 garlic cloves
4 firm vine ripened tomatoes, halved
1 tbs thyme leaves, chopped
1 bunch asparagus, stalks peeled
1 cup lemon juice
kalamata olives in oil, cut lengthways
Small handful flat leaf parsley, leaves
Small handful basil leaves
1 Place beans in a large bowl and cover with cold water, change
water every 2 hours. Leave beans to soak for 24 hours. Once soaked
remove outer shell and discard, drain again.
2 Place beans in a large saucepan, cover with water and cook over a
high heat for 35 minutes, after 20 minutes add 1 tablespoon of
salt.
3 Pre heat oven to 200 C.
4 Trim excess fat from lamb. Coat well in coarsely ground black
pepper.
5 Heat a frying pan over a high heat, add grapeseed oil, when hot,
sear lamb all over until golden then place in the oven, add garlic
cloves to pan, cook a further 10-15 minutes or until cooked to your
liking. Add tomatoes, sprinkled with thyme, to pan for the final 5
minutes of cook. Remove lamb, cover with foil and rest.
6 Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil, reduce to a simmer,
blanch asparagus for 2-3 minutes, remove and place into a bowl of
iced water, trim ends.
7 Drain the beans and place in a food processor, process until
coarse, add roast garlic cloves one at a time, continuing to
process, check taste. Add lemon juice and olive oil to taste,
continue to process until smooth.
8 Combine the olives, parsley and basil in a bowl, add the roast
tomatoes and drizzle some oil from the olives, using hands
carefully mix.
9 Spoon the puree into the centre of the plate, top with asparagus,
top with lamb slices topped with a small handful of the salad.
Please note - This recipe is untested in the MasterChef kitchen.
