Lamb with swede gratin

The fact is we live in the region that straddles the change in the words’ meaning.

Go further afield and the Scots consider the turnip to be the larger yellow round thing that I always hollowed out for Halloween while those further south know the turnip to be the smaller white thing.

And it’s also confusingly visa versa. No matter. This recipe calls for the larger yellow thing and, despite this intro proving otherwise, for brevity I’ve called it a swede.

INGREDIENTS
Serves four

One medium-sized swede
300g potatoes
Four 250g lamb rumps or thick chops
One clove of garlic – crushed
One sprig of rosemary
300ml of double cream
A couple of handfuls of broad beans – shelled
250ml red wine reduced with 250ml lamb or chicken stock to 75ml
A little vegetable oil
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 200°C (gas 6)

Pour the cream into a pan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and add the crushed garlic with a little salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, peel the swede and potatoes and cut them into ½cm slices. Add to the cream and turn over until well coated. If ovenproof, place the pan in the oven or pour the mixture into an oven-proof dish and place in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes until tender.

Next, heat a frying pan, add a splash of oil and seal the lamb rumps on all sides, seasoning with a little salt and pepper. Again, if ovenproof, place the pan in the oven or transfer the rumps to a roasting dish and bake for 15 to 20 minutes (10 to 15 if using chops) which should result in medium cooked meat. Remove from the oven and allow to rest, covered to keep warm, for ten minutes.

Blanch the broad beans in boiling water for five minutes and drain. At the same time, add the rosemary to the wine and stock reduction and heat.

To serve, slice each lamb rump and lay next to a serving of gratin. Spoon around some of the gravy and scatter the broad beans about.