The Big Glut Recipe - APRIL

April’s spring lamb with parsley and walnut pesto

Take advantage of the early spring lamb, here using double loins with a tasty treatment of pesto topping and served on a bed of new potatoes with seasonal vegetables from the garden. You can ask your butcher to bone, roll and tie the individual double loins of lamb.

Ingredients:

• 25g (1oz) parsley 

• 50g (1 ¾ oz) walnuts 

• 1 clove garlic 

• 25g (1oz) Parmesan cheese, finely grated 

• 4 tbsp olive oil 

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper 

• 4 individual double loins of lamb boned, rolled and tied 

• 450g (1lb) new potatoes, scrubbed and thinly sliced (no thicker than a pound coin) 

• Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F, gas mark 6). 

Make the pesto. It's a doddle - peel the garlic and roughly chop together with the walnuts and parsley, pop them all into a food processor and whizz until they are finely chopped. Then add the Parmesan cheese and two tablespoons of the olive oil. Whizz again until blended and season to taste. Coat both sides of the loins with the pesto by pressing equal amounts of the mix onto the meat and ‘hey pesto’.

Heat the remaining two tablespoons of the oil in a roasting pan then add the potatoes, tossing to coat them in the oil. Season well. Carefully place the loins of lamb on top of the potatoes and roast in the oven for 35-40 mins. Check towards the end of cooking that the potatoes and lamb are done to your liking. Serve with a selection of fresh seasonal vegetables from the garden.