Mont Recipes: Lamb Backstrap

Lamb Backstrap with Pumpkin Purée, Pickled Raisins, Goat’s Curd & Pistachio Dukkah

‘Tis the season for entertaining and what better way to kick off the holidays than with a feast of perfectly cooked  lamb backstrap paired with a bottle of our very own  2019 Yarra Valley Syrah - a delicious recipe which serves 4 people, supplied by our friend Gavin AKA Another Food Blogger (www.anotherfoodblogger.com).

INGREDIENTS 

Lamb backstrap x 4 – 250g each

Goats curd x 4 tbsp

Pumpkin x 100g

Dukkah

Pistachios x 25g

Sesame seeds x 10g

Cumin x 1 tsp

Ground coriander x 1 tsp

Pinch of salt 

Pumpkin Purée

Pumpkin x 400g

Cherrywood chips x 40g

Butter x knob

Olive oil x 1 tbsp

Salt 

Pickled Raisins

Raisins x 150g

Sugar x 100g

White vinegar x 240ml

Chilli flakes x 1 tsp

ESSENTIAL TOOLS

• Chopping board
• Chef knives
• Frying pan x 2
• BBQ or oven
• Blender
• Sieve
• Saucepan
• Jar/airtight container

METHOD

Pickled Raisins

1. Place raisins in a sterile airtight container
2. Put vinegar, sugar and chilli in a saucepan,bheat until sugar has dissolved
3. Pour vinegar mixture over raisins, allow to cool, cover and store in the fridge
4. Pickled raisins will (potentially) last in the fridge for a couple of months!

Pumpkin Purée

1. Cut pumpkin into 1 inch wedges, drizzle with oil and season with salt
2. If using cherrywood, place the chips into tinfoil and fold up into a parcel - using a knife stab a few holes to allow the smoke to release and place above the heat source of you BBQ
3. Cook pumpkin at 150 degrees celsius on the  BBQ on indirect heat for 45mins – 1 hour until soft enough that you can stab a knife through easily
4. Peel the skin away and place in a blender with a knob of butter and blend until smooth
5. Pass the purée through a sieve to remove any remaining lumps
6. If you don’t have a BBQ or don’t want to smoke the pumpkin, roast it on a rack in the oven instead

Pistachio Dukkah

1. Roughly chop the pistachios
2. Toast the cumin, coriander, sesame seeds and salt lightly in a frying pan on low heat for a minute
3. Stir in the pistachios and allow to cool

Squash Cubes

1. Chop the 100g of squash into small 1cm cubes
2. While the lamb is resting fry the cubes in 1 tbsp olive oil and pinch of salt for 2-3 minutes until golden in colour

Lamb Backstrap

1. Remove lamb from the fridge at least 30 minutes prior to cooking
2. Rub in olive oil and season the lamb generously with salt
3. Cook on medium to high heat in a frying pan for 4 minutes, flip and cook for a further 3 minutes or until the lamb has an internal temp of 52 degrees celsius
4. Add a knob of butter and baste the butter over lamb for 30 seconds
5. Allow lamb to rest on a wire rack for 6-8 minutes before carving
6. If cooking lamb on BBQ then cook at 200 degrees celsius for 3 minutes per side or until lamb has a 52 degrees celsius  internal temperature

Plating

1. Place a spoon of warm purée on one side of the plate and using a spatula (or spoon) brush the purée away from you
2. Drizzle some pistachio dukkah on the plate along with some sprinkled pickled raisins (about 1 tsp of each)
3. Cut the lamb into 4 pieces and place them in the center of the plate alongside the purée
4. Place blobs of goats curd next to the lamb and sprinkle some squash cubes around the plate too

Tips/ & Tricks

• This dish can be made with any cut of lamb so you could butterfly a leg and serve it family style 
• The pickled raisins and dukkah are best made in advance and will keep if stored in an airtight container in the fridge/cupboard
• The purée can also be made in advance and heated in a saucepan/microwave when ready to serve – making this dish surprisingly easy to serve at a dinner party
• If you can’t get goat’s curd then mix 3 tbsp goat’s cheese with 1 tbsp heavy cream until smooth
• Resting the meat is crucial - if you slice the meat too soon all the juices will spill out onto your chopping board/plate
• If you don’t have a BBQ or cherrywood chips you can easily roast the squash in the oven - I like to roast mine in larger pieces as it means cooking it slower and bringing out some natural sugars, alternatively, cut into smaller chunks to speed up the cooking time