Silverbeet has to be one of my favourite vegetables and when Harris Farm asked me to create some spring lamb recipes I instantly thought of what green ingredients I can add to a lamb dish. I think this Mediterranean vegetable is just so versatile and fun to cook with. It can go in pies, savoury tarts, casseroles, soups and so many more dishes. In this recipe I thought I would play around with something green to add to the beautiful lamb rump so it was number one of what I thought I’d like to use – since it is spring after all! So in this pesto the silverbeet worked really well! Combined with a normal pesto minus the garlic (which I normally love but I thought it could be too overpowering in the pesto since I already have caramelised garlic thats cooked with the lamb rump), the silverbeet added a nice subtle sourness to the mix. Also this recipe makes for a good jarful of pesto so I ended up adding this delicious silverbeet and basil pesto to pretty much everything all week! Give this recipe a go and let me know what you think 🙂
Recipe: Lamb rump with silverbeet + basil pesto and fresh peas
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Serves: 2-3
Ingredients:
2 x pieces of lamb rump (approximately 600 g or slightly more) room temperature
3 x French shallots
2 x bay leaves
30 g butter
1 cup x parmesan (freshly grated)
½ cup x pine nuts
6 x large leaves of silverbeet (Washed, ends removed, then chopped up roughly)
1 x bunch of fresh basil
100 g x fresh peas
1 cup x olive oil
salt
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 170 degrees.
- Remove the skin from the French shallots and slice in half. Transfer onto a pan along with the butter. Whilst the butter is melting start preparing the lamb.
- Prepare the lamb rump pieces by rinsing and drying them (keep the skin and fat on) then place the pieces skin side down on a pan with the melted butter and French shallots. Sear the lamb rumps on both sides for approximately 5 minutes each or until golden brown, maintaining a medium to high heat. Transfer the lamb, the caramelized shallots, fresh bay leaves and the melted butter onto a baking tray then sprinkle with salt. Bake the lamb rump pieces skin side up for 20-30 minutes. After baking the lamb, make sure to rest it for 10 minutes.
- While the lamb rump is roasting prepare the pesto by lightly frying the spinach (silverbeet) in a little bit of olive oil. Transfer to the food processor and add the grated parmesan, fresh basil, pine nuts and a good ¾ cup of olive oil. Season with salt then process until the pesto is well blended and has a smoother texture, adding more olive oil if necessary.
- Remove the skin off the peas then in a small bowl season with some salt and olive oil.
- To serve, place a 2/3 large tablespoons of the pesto on the base of the plate, slice the rested lamb rump pieces and place on the side, as well as the caramelized French shallots then top with fresh peas. Drizzle with some of the leftover melted butter in the baking tray and some extra salt.
Created in collaboration with Harris Farm Markets