Aldo Zilli's Stroud main with sautéed mushrooms and sorrel pesto
Ingredients
- 6 Lamb chops, French trimmed
- 1 Small bunch of thyme
- 2 Garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 Medium tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 200 g7 oz Green beans, trimmed
- Sea salt and cracked black pepper
- Olive oil
For the sorrel pesto:
- 40 g1½ oz Beech nuts
- 80 g2¾ oz Sorrel leaves
- 4 Garlic cloves, peeled
- 160 ml5¾ fl oz Olive oil
- 30 g1 oz Hard cheese (such as parmesan), grated
For the celeriac and potato puree:
- 1 /2 Celeriac bulb, peeled and roughly diced
- 1 Medium potato, peeled and roughly diced
- 40 g1½ oz Butter
- 50 ml1¾ fl oz Double cream
- Sea salt
For the mushrooms:
- 20 g¾ oz Dried porcini
- 2 Garlic cloves
- 40 g1½ oz Butter
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- 200 g7 oz Beef-heart mushrooms, thickly sliced
- 100 ml3½ fl oz Red wine
- Olive oil
- Sea salt
Method: How to make Marinated lamb with sauteed mushrooms and sorrel pesto
Place the lamb in a large bowl, add the thyme, garlic, tomatoes and season well. Drizzle everything with a few tablespoons of olive oil, then leave the lamb to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, toast the beechnuts in a dry frying pan until fragrant. Allow them to cool, then pour these into a small food processor along with the sorrel and garlic. Blitz until you have formed a coarse paste, then start to add the olive oil while continuing to blitz. Finally stir in the cheese and check the seasoning.
Cook the celeriac in salted boiling water until tender. Drain well, then puree in a blender. In a separate pan of boiling water, cook the potato until tender. Drain, push through a ricer, then mix with the celeriac puree. Add the butter and cream, season well, then keep warm until serving.
Blitz the porcini with a good pinch of salt in a coffee grinder or small blender until it is a powder. Grate 1 clove of garlic on a fine grater, then mix with the porcini powder. Slowly stir in some olive oil, until the mixture forms a smooth paste.
Heat a large sauté pan for the mushrooms. Melt the butter with the olive oil, then add the mushroom slices. Cook over a high heat for a few minutes. Slice the other garlic clove, then turn down the heat a little and add it to the pan. Cook for a few more minutes, then pour in the red wine and turn the heat back up to high.
Once the red wine has reduced by at least two-thirds, stir in a couple of tablespoons of porcini paste. Allow this to cook for a few more minutes, check for seasoning, then set the mushrooms aside until serving.
Heat a large frying pan until very hot. Shake off any excess marinade from the lamb chops, then add them to the pan. Cook for a couple of minutes each side, or to your liking. Pour the marinade into the pan, then take the pan off the heat and allow the lamb to rest in the marinade for 5 minutes.
Lightly steam the green beans just before serving.
Place a metal chef’s ring on each serving plate and fill it with a pile of sautéed mushrooms. Carefully remove each ring, then arrange the lamb around the mushrooms. Place a spoonful of celeriac and potato mash beside the lamb, and top the mash with a handful of green beans. Drizzle the lamb with sorrel pesto and serve.
