Ingredients

• 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

Directions

• 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.