This is a delicious kleftiko style lamb to which you can add some crunch but draping a sheet of filo pastry, buttered and folded onto itself over a scrunched up ball of baking parchment.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes at the same time as the vegetables and take out. Remove the baking parchment and use the filo to cover the lamb when you open the paper parcel to take to the table.
You may further flavour the dish by spooning some herb (parsley & mint) and feta pesto over them.
Ingredients (Serves 4)
- 4 pieces of lamb rump, approx. 170g each
- 1 courgette, approx. 200g, washed, trimmed and cut in small cubes
- 1 potato, approx. 250g, peeled and cut into small cubes
- 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into small cubes
- 100g frozen peas
- 6 small plumb tomatoes, cut in half
- 75g butter
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ½ lemon, juice and zest
- 1 preserved whole lemon, sliced
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 4 small sprigs of rosemary
Method
Preheat the oven to 1900C.
Wash and pat dry the lamb. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Bring a large frying pan to a high heat. Add olive oil and brown the lamb all round, adding 25g of butter too and basting the meat with.
Transfer to a dish and keep to the side.
Add the chopped vegetables to the same frying pan, apart from the halved tomatoes, season and stir for 2-3 minutes. Add 50g of butter, toss the vegetables to flavour and transfer to a bowl. Lastly, brown the tomato halves on the cut side and add to the vegetables too.
Cut four pieces of baking parchment large enough to make parcels of each piece of lamb and a quarter of the vegetables and lay them on a baking sheet. In the centre of each piece of paper, place a quarter of the vegetables, sprinkle with a pinch of dried oregano and a little lemon zest and juice, close the parcels making a pleat all along the middle and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. At the end of this time, add the lamb to each parcel placing a piece of preserved lemon over the lamb and a sprig of rosemary, a sprinkling of pepper and salt and close again. Cook for 15-20 minutes more (depending on how cooked you want your lamb) and take out of the oven.
Leave each parcel to rest for 5 minutes and serve.