Lamb shoulder chops with wild garlic salsa verde

“Being in Wiltshire during the spring was so inspiring as a chef that I used all seasonal and local produce to create this dish. I was lucky enough to have asparagus, purple sprouting broccoli, wild garlic flowers and spring lamb at my fingertips. If you can’t get your hands on wild garlic flowers, chive flowers are a good substitute.” Luke Nguyen, Luke Nguyen's United Kingdom

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 4 thin lamb shoulder chops
• 8 stalks purple sprouting broccoli or broccolini, trimmed and halved lengthways if thick
• 8 spears asparagus, trimmed
• 8 garlic flowers, to garnish

Wild garlic salsa verde

• large handful wild garlic leaves
• small handful Vietnamese mint, coarsely chopped
• small handful basil leaves, coarsely chopped
• small handful parsley leaves, coarsely chopped
• small handful mint leaves, coarsely chopped
• 2 red birdseye chillies, sliced
• 4 anchovy fillets in olive oil
• 2 tbsp fish sauce 
• 1 tsp malt vinegar
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• pinch of salt and pepper
• 60 ml (¼ cup) olive oil

Resting time 5 minutes

Instructions

Preheat a charcoal barbecue to high. If using barbecue bricks, make sure you allow them to burn down and smoulder to avoid them imparting an unpleasant taste to the food.  

To make the salsa verde, pound the wild garlic leaves, herbs and chilli in a mortar and pestle until a paste forms. Add the anchovies and 1 tablespoon of the anchovy oil, fish sauce, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper and oil and combine well. 

Smother the lamb chops all over with the salsa verde. Cook for 3 minutes on each side for medium-rare, spreading with a little more salsa verde when you turn the meat. Once you turn the lamb, add the broccoli and asparagus and cook, turning regularly and basting with the salsa verde for 1½ minutes or until lightly charred. It will take less time to cook the asparagus as you want them still nice and crisp.

Allow the lamb to rest for 5 minutes, then serve with the chargrilled asparagus and purple sprouting broccoli on top, drizzled with the remaining tasty salsa verde and scattered with garlic flowers. 

Luke Nguyen's United Kingdom starts Thursday 14 May 2015 at 8pm on SBS ONE and finishes 2 July 2015. Visit the Luke Nguyen's United Kingdom website to catch-up on episodes online, scroll through recipes or find out more about the show.

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.