Lamb’s breast with white beans & samphire

Lamb’s breast with white beans & samphire

Spring

Breast of lamb is an underrated cut. It’s easy to get hold of, relatively inexpensive, packed with depth and flavour and embarrassingly easy to cook. It’s the sort of fearless cut you can whack in the oven with some fresh rosemary and garlic cloves and forget about for hours. A low, gentle heat renders the rich fat, tenderises the dark meat and crisps up the edges. What you’ll find, in the base of the roasting tray, is something close to godliness, and for white beans there’s nothing holier. I like to serve samphire with this dish because I think its delicate salinity and gentle crunch goes so well with lamb, but if it’s not in season, try purple sprouting broccoli or a kale, instead.

Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 1 large lamb’s breast (about 1kg/2lb 4oz) with some good fat and meat
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 4 rosemary sprigs
  • 1 small onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 x 400g (14oz) tin haricot beans, drained
  • 75g (2½oz) samphire
  • good squeeze of lemon juice
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Heat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7. Place the lamb’s breast in a roasting tin, season all over and rub in the olive oil. Roast for 20 minutes, then remove the tin from the oven, tuck the garlic cloves and three of the rosemary sprigs under the lamb, add a splash of water and cover loosely with baking parchment. Turn down the heat to 120°C/235°F/gas mark ½–1, place the tin back in the oven and cook the lamb for a further 2–3 hours, until very tender. Use tongs to lift the lamb’s breast out of the tin onto a plate. Cover with foil and keep warm in a low oven. Reserve the tin and everything in it.

Set a medium heavy-based pan over a medium heat. Spoon in a little of the lamb’s fat from the roasting tin and, when hot, add the sliced onion and remaining rosemary sprig. Cook, stirring regularly, for 12–15 minutes, or until the onion is soft, but not overly coloured.

Now add the drained beans and get them moving around the pan. Add 300ml (10½fl oz) of water to the reserved contents of the roasting tin and scratch and scrape at the caramelized sticky bits on the base. Tip all this flavour into the bean mixture and bring the liquid up to a simmer. Cook until the beans begin to break down and thicken, then season, remove from the heat and keep warm.

Bring a small pan of water to the boil. Add the samphire, and cook for 1–2 minutes, until the samphire is tender, then drain it and return it to the pan. Add the lemon juice and season with black pepper. To serve, place the lamb’s breast onto a warm plate, spoon the creamy beans out alongside and scatter over the samphire.

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