Grilled Marinated Lamb and Stove Top Dauphinoise

Weekends. They call for long, lazy cooking for delicious and indulgent dinners. I like to spend at least one day at the weekend exploring a new recipe from one of my books, taking my time while I prepare it and enjoying the warm fullness I feel as my head hits the pillow. Weeknight meals are often quick, rushed and convenient (unless you fancy eating at 10pm - which is fine for Rob but a little less ideal for me), so the indulgence to be able to cook anything I like on a lazy Saturday or Sunday is enough to get me excited for the weekends.

Grilled Marinated Lamb and Stove Top Dauphinoise

If you're stuck for a weekend meal, this one is a good mix of quick and slow. The slowness coming from the overnight lamb marinade and dauphinoise and then a final quick grilling of the lamb that fills your kitchen with the most delectable scent. These recipes come from Nigel Slater's Real Food.

Serves 2

Lamb Ingredients

- 4 large Garlic Cloves (crushed)

- 2 tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice

- 4 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

- 2 tsp Herbes de Provence

- Freshly Ground Black Pepper

- 2 Lamb Fillets (about 250g each - I would recommend Neck Fillets)

Dauphinoise Ingredients

- 500g Waxy Potatoes (Charlotte or Maris Peer are the best for this)

- 1 packet chopped Pancetta

- 2 Garlic Cloves (crushed)

- 2 Handfuls Fresh Rocket (Arugula)

- 200ml Double Cream

- 100ml Whole Milk

- 30g Grated Fresh Parmesan

Method

Mix together all your ingredients for the lamb marinade and massage into your lamb fillets. Leave overnight if you can, but if you're doing it on the same time then make sure you leave it for at least an hour.

Thinly slice your potatoes. If you've got a mandoline then that is ideal, but if not then take your time with a sharp knife to get some thin slices.

Fry your potato slices with some butter until they are beginning to brown slightly.

Add your pancetta cubes and fry until they are nice and crispy. 

Add the garlic and cook for another minute or so.

Add your rocket to the pan with the double cream and milk. If you can add a lid to your pan at this point then that's perfect. I didn't have a lidded frying pan, so I made a substitute lid out of tin foil. 

Cook at a low/medium heat for 10 minutes.

While your potatoes are cooking away, take a griddle pan (ideally) and get it nice and hot. Add the lamb and give it a good press down so that grill lines will start to form on the meat. 

Cook on each side for 3-4 minutes. You want your lamb to still be pink inside. Cook for longer if you like you're not a fan of this. 

Remove the lamb from the pan and place on a chopping board. Cover with tin foil and leave to rest for 10 minutes.

Remove the lid from your dauphinoise and stir in a your fresh parmesan. Cook for a few more minutes and then remove from the heat.

You're now ready to serve! :)

Pea Soup with Crispy Pancetta

I was listening to Jay Rayner's 'The Man Who Ate the World' on the way to my physio appointment this morning and during his time in Paris, he came across a dish in Guy Savoy where the peas in his pea salad had all been individually split. This got me obsessing with peas all day. I needed some peas in my life - stat.

We had some deliciously thin pancetta to use up also, so I thought the remedy to my cravings would be to make an indulgent pea soup and use pancetta as croutons. I did a lot of internet research to find the best pea soup recipe and decided to try Felicity Cloake's "Perfect Pea Soup" recipe for The Guardian. She uses bacon in the recipes but I took this out and replaced it with the pancetta topping. So here is my adapted version.

Pea Soup with Crispy Pancetta and Creme Fraiche

To Serve Two

Ingredients

15g butter
2 spring onions, chopped
4 rashers of pancetta
225g frozen peas
375ml of vegetable stock
Squeeze of lemon juice
Creme fraiche, to serve

Method

• Melt the butter in a pan and add your spring onions. Allow them to soften in the foamy butter. 
• Add the peas and let them defrost a bit. 
• Add your hot stock and allow to simmer for ten minutes.
• Add a squeeze of lemon juice and stir.
• Using a stick blender, smooth the soup and allow to rest on a low heat whilst you make the croutons.
• Bring a small frying pan to a high temperature and add the pancetta. They will crisp in under a minute so make sure they don't burn. 
• Dish the soup into bowls and add a small quenelle of creme fraiche to the centre. 
• Lay your crispy pancetta on top!