Ingredients

• dash olive oil
• 1 onion
• thinly sliced
• 1 leek
• thinly sliced
• 1 fennel
• thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 fresh thyme sprig
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 50g/2oz butter
• 500ml/18fl oz lamb or chicken stock
• 700g/1lb 9oz potatoes
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• dash olive oil
• ½ bag of hay (clean eating hay from the petshop and not bedding hay)
• 1 rack of lamb
• French trimmed

Directions

• For the boulangère potatoes
• preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas 2.
• Heat a heavy-based pan
• add some oil
• then add the sliced onion
• leek
• fennel
• garlic
• thyme
• fennel seeds and fry for 3-4 minutes.
• Meanwhile
• bring the stock to the boil in a saucepan and grease a small ovenproof dish with a little of the butter.
• Slice the potatoes thinly on a mandoline and start to layer up the dish with alternating layers of potato and the onion mixture
• seasoning with salt and freshly ground black pepper in between.
• For the final layer
• arrange the potatoes in a neat layer and pour over the hot stock.
• Add a couple of knobs of butter
• cover with foil and bake for one hour. Remove the foil and cook for another 30 minutes
• or until cooked and crisp.
• For the lamb
• turn the oven up to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
• Heat a dash of olive oil in a cocotte (a cast iron casserole dish with a lid) placed over a stove top and brown the lamb all over. Remove the lamb from the cocotte.
• Add the hay and a little more oil
• just until the hay starts to smoke
• then place the lamb on top and cover with the lid.
• Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes
• or until the lamb is pink.
• To serve
• remove the lamb from the hay
• rest for 5-10 minutes
• then carve and serve with the boulangère potatoes.