Lamb breast salad

This is an example of how the pressure cooker can make the most out of those trickier cuts of meat, without it necessarily having to be winter comfort food.

Credit: Andrew Hayes-Watkins

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  40 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Lamb breast is just about the cheapest cut of lamb you can get; it is very fatty, but has a really good flavour. I gave it a rolled ‘porchetta’-style treatment in my first pressure cooker book, but here I wanted something lighter and simpler. This recipe will also work well with lamb ribs. I’ve served it with what is essentially a gremolata with a grain stirred through it. This will work with any grain you have as long as it has a bit of bite – spelt or farro, buckwheat, freekeh, brown rice. Alternatively, instead of making this into a salad, simply serve the lamb breast and skimmed cooking liquor alongside any mash or gratin.

Ingredients

• 1 lamb breast
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large sprig of rosemary leaves
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced
• 2 pieces of pared lemon zest
• 100 ml red wine
• 25 ml red wine vinegar
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Salad

• 150 g cooked spelt, farro or buckwheat
• 100 g spinach, rocket or watercress (or a combination)
• ½ red onion, finely chopped and soaked in salted water for 30 minutes
• zest of 1 lemon or ½ orange, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 large bunch of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1 small bunch of mint leaves, chopped

Dressing

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp lemon or orange juice
• 1 tsp sherry vinegar
• pinch of ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. First cut the lamb breast into 4 large pieces – you should be able to just get them into your pressure cooker in a single layer. Season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and sear the lamb breast, skin-side down, until well browned. Remove and strain off any excess fat.
2. Add the rosemary leaves, garlic and lemon zest to the cooker, then pour in the red wine and red wine vinegar. Lay the lamb breast pieces on top, skin-side up, and close the lid. Bring up to high pressure and cook for 30 minutes. Allow to drop pressure naturally. Remove the lamb breast from the pressure cooker, and, while still warm, cut up into strips or shred, discarding any large pieces of fat that have not rendered. Decant the cooking liquor into a small pot and wait for the fat to settle on top. Skim off the fat and reheat the liquor to serve with the lamb as a gravy or reserve to use as a well-flavoured stock in other dishes.
3. If turning into a salad, whisk the salad dressing ingredients together and season with salt and pepper. Heat the remaining olive oil in a frying pan (skillet) and crisp up the lamb breast a little, then toss with all the remaining salad ingredients and dressing.

Recipe and image from Modern Pressure Cooking by Catherine Phipps, published by Quadrille, RRP $50

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Lamb breast is just about the cheapest cut of lamb you can get; it is very fatty, but has a really good flavour. I gave it a rolled ‘porchetta’-style treatment in my first pressure cooker book, but here I wanted something lighter and simpler. This recipe will also work well with lamb ribs. I’ve served it with what is essentially a gremolata with a grain stirred through it. This will work with any grain you have as long as it has a bit of bite – spelt or farro, buckwheat, freekeh, brown rice. Alternatively, instead of making this into a salad, simply serve the lamb breast and skimmed cooking liquor alongside any mash or gratin.