Rolled Lamb with Wild Garlic, Porchetta-style
I’d fantasised about this dish for months, just like I’d obsessed about porchetta the first time I had it in Mogiliano, Italy.
Rolled lamb, cooked porchetta-style. Lamb breast in lieu of the pork belly of the porchetta and lamb neck in place of the loin.
The same stuffing used in porchetta would work well in this lamb but I wanted something else - and I’d have to wait for it.
And then, finally, it was time. Wild garlic season.
I cooked this on my Weber rotisserie but it would work well cooked indirectly on a barbecue or, indeed, in the oven.
I’ve never seen it be done before, but I knew it would work. And what a dream it is - crispy skin, tender meat, still pink but cooked perfectly. I was in love.
Give it a go. Lamb breast and neck are less expensive cuts of meat and this treatment really brings out the best in them.
If you can’t get hold of wild garlic, or it’s out of season, use generous amount of rosemary and thyme, taking it in a more traditional porchetta direction.
Serves 8
Ingredients:
3 pieces of lamb breast, trimmed
1½ lamb necks - enough to fit the width of the breasts. Trim off any silverskin from the underneath
200g wild garlic
Big bunch of parsley, including stalks but remove the thickest ones
2 garlic cloves
Zest from 2 lemons
1tbsp ground cumin
1tbsp smoked paprika
1tbsp sea salt
2tsp black pepper
Olive oil, plus extra salt.
Method:
If using the oven, pre-heat to 200C.
Bring a pan of water to the boil and dunk wild garlic and parsley in it. Leave for about 30 seconds - 1 minute until it’s fully wilted, and then transfer to a bowl and run cold water over it until it’s completely cool. Drain and squeeze as much water out as possible.
Chop the wild garlic, parsley, garlic as finely as possible and then mix in the cumin, paprika, salt and pepper.
Lay out some butcher’s string onto your work surface (parcel string will work too - just nothing too plastic as it will melt) so they’re about two inches apart along the length of your bellies.
Lay your bellies on the string. Lay them so they overlap by an inch or two along the longest length. Use a mallet or rolling pin to beat them as flat as possible. Spread the wild garlic mix as equally as possible along the surface, leaving a couple of inches at the end.
Place the lamb neck at the opposite end so it covers the full width. Roll the belly around the neck, and then continue rolling it up, tucking it in as you go so it’s as tight as possible. Bring the central piece of string together and tie a knot in it as tight as possible. Then do the end strings, and any remaining ones.
Brush the surface with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
If using a rotisserie, skewer it through the neck (it should go through fairly easily) and secure. Prepare your barbecue and open the vents fully. Once ready, put the lamb in and start cooking it. After 10 minutes, partially close the vents/reduce the gas. You’re aiming for a temperature of around 130C.
If using an oven, pre-heat it to 200C. Place lamb on a rack and put in the oven. Cook for 15 minutes, and then reduce to 130C.
Cook for around three hours. You’re aiming for an internal temperature of 65-70C so it’s medium. If you want it rarer, aim for 60C.
Remove from the heat and rest for 15 minutes. Slice, and serve.
