- 50g/2oz demerara sugar
- 150g/5oz fine salt
- 1 sprig thyme
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 star anise
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 lemon, peel only
- 1kg/2lb 4oz boneless lamb shoulder
- 1.5kg/3lb 5oz duck fat
- 3 large sprigs thyme
- 3 large sprigs rosemary
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ head of garlic
- 200ml/7fl oz sherry
- 4 small fresh beetroot, peeled
- rock salt and cracked white pepper
- olive oil
- 10g/¼oz fresh thyme leaves
- 10g/¼oz chopped rosemary
- 175g/6oz picked mint
- 110g/4oz picked flat leaf parsley
- 75g/3oz picked basil
- 1 shallot finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, very finely sliced
- pinch salt
- 2 tsp English mustard
- 6 fillets of anchovies marinated in brine
- 300ml/10fl oz extra virgin olive oil
- 10g/½oz capers, drained
- sherry vinegar
- 100g/4oz ewes' milk curd, at room temperature
- lemon juice, to taste
- pinch cracked black pepper
- salt, to taste
- 50g/2oz chopped mint
- 250ml/9floz reduced lamb sauce
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- sherry vinegar, to taste
- 25g/1oz salsa verde (from above)
- 2 large roasting potatoes (such as Maris piper or Lovers), peeled
- 250g/9oz clarified butter
- 8 sheets filo pastry
- vegetable oil, for deep frying
- pinch ground cumin
- drizzle olive oil
- 1 punnet pea shoots
- For the lamb brine, mix all the ingredients except the lamb together in a saucepan with 2 litres/3½ pints of water and bring to a simmer, just to dissolve the sugar and salt.
- Leave to cool, then submerge the lamb into the brine, cover and place in the fridge for 24 hours.
- For the confit of lamb, melt the fat with the herbs and garlic in a roasting tin over the hob to 85C/185F (using a food thermometer to check). Take the lamb shoulder out of the brine, pat it dry and carefully place it into the hot fat.
- Cover with foil and cook for four hours either on the hob, or in the oven at 100C/225F/Gas ¼, checking and turning the lamb every hour.
- The lamb is cooked when you can push a roasting fork or skewer through the meat like a block of butter.
- Leave the lamb to cool completely in the fat and rest.
- For the baked beetroot, preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
- Cut four squares of baking paper and foil the same size, big enough to wrap the beetroot and have a little excess at the top.
- Heat the sherry in a pan and cook until it has reduced to half its volume.
- Cut the beetroots at the top with a cross nearly all the way through, season with the olive oil, salt and pepper all over making sure you get it inside the beetroot.
- Drizzle a little bit of the reduced sherry all over the beetroots and finish with a few slices of the picked thyme and rosemary.
- Pull the sides of the foil and baking paper up then add a splash of water to each beetroot. This will help steam them during cooking.
- Now wrap them up, bringing the baking paper and foil together to seal the parcel.
- Bake in the oven for one hour.
- Take the beetroots out the oven and keep warm. Don’t open until you are ready to serve.
- For the salsa verde, heat a large, deep saucepan of water until boiling. Have a bowl of iced water ready to cool the herbs down.
- Add all the fresh herbs to the pan of boiling water and make sure they are completely submerged for 10 seconds.
- Take the herbs out, shaking them off then plunge them into the iced water.
- Fry the shallot and garlic in a pan with a little oil for three minutes with a pinch of salt.
- When the shallot is soft, add the mustard and anchovies. Mix well, take off the heat to cool and add 200ml/7fl oz of the olive oil.
- Drain the herbs and stir them into the shallot mixture. Add the capers. Place the mixture in a food processor and start to blend, gradually adding the remaining 100ml/4fl oz of olive oil. Don’t blend for too long – leave the mixture with some texture.
- Season to taste with salt and sherry vinegar.
- Keep the salsa verde at room temperature in a bowl covered with cling film.
- For the ewes’ milk curd, season the curd with the lemon juice and cracked black pepper to taste. Add a little salt, to taste, depending on how salty the curd is already. Set aside.
- For the pastilla, pick the meat from the soft confit lamb into a bowl removing any big lumps of fat or gristle (but don’t take all the fat away as this is great for flavour).
- Add the chopped mint, reduced lamb sauce, seasoning and sherry vinegar to taste.
- Add a little of the salsa verde, just to coat, without getting the mixture too wet. Set aside.
- Heat the clarified butter in a pan until warm, but not hot. Place the potato on a mandoline and wind round to make potato string.
- Place the potato string into the clarified butter making sure the butter coats all the potato.
- Lay out two sheets of filo pastry about 20cm/8in wide and 20cm/8in long on top of each other. Divide the meat mixture into four portions and roughly shape each portion in your hand like a sausage.
- Place a sausage shape of the mixture on the filo and roll up like a spring roll, folding the sides over and brushing with the clarified butter to help it stick.
- Finally wind the string potato around the filo parcel. Repeat with the remaining filo and mixture and place on a tray to leave to set in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Heat a deep fat fryer to 180C/350F. (CAUTION: Hot oil can be dangerous. Don't leave unattended).
- Add the pastillas to the deep fat fryer and fry until golden-brown and crisp, about three minutes.
- Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Lightly season with salt and cumin and carve how you wish.
- To serve, place the warm beetroots in the foil package on each of four plates and open up the top of the foil and baking paper.
- Place a dollop of the ewes' curd on top of the beetroot. Finish with a little olive oil and fresh pea shoots.
- Place a spoonful of the salsa verde on the plate.
- Place the pastille on the plate, drizzle with a little more olive oil and serve.