Saddle of lamb from the French Prealps, young vegetables au gratin (Alain Ducasse)

Ingredients

Directions

1. 1

   Lamb: Remove the fine skin and fat from the trunk piece. Separate the fillets with the belly flaps and also remove the fat. Beat the belly flaps very thinly with a meat mallet. Sprinkle the fillets with savory and cover with a cloth.

2. 2

   Filling: Wash the zucchini and cut into fine strips. Sprinkle with salt and leave to stand in a sieve for 1 hour. Stir regularly and squeeze. Wash and dry the mangold and spinach leaves.

3. 3

   Put the leaves in a pot with some olive oil and let them fall together. Salt lightly. Cool immediately in ice water and squeeze well. Chop finely. Peel and finely chop the onion. Peel and chop the garlic clove.

4. 4

   Sweat them together for 2 minutes in olive oil without colouring. Clean the mushrooms and remove the feet. Cut heads into fine cubes. Sweat them in butter and some lemon juice. Chop the lamb liver.

5. 5

   Remove the pistils of the courgette flowers and tear the flowers apart. Cut basil leaves into strips. Put all ingredients for the filling in a bowl. Add parmesan and 10 millilitres of olive oil.

6. 6

   Mix everything well. Salt and pepper.

7. 7

   Stuffed lamb: soak in netting fat and wash out several times. Dry carefully. Cut lamb fillets into 4 pieces and season. Spread with filling and roll up with the belly cloth. Wrap in a piece of netting fat and tie up in several places.

8. 8

   Young vegetables au gratin: Peel the broad beans and wash the rest of the vegetables. Peel carrots and fairy tubs. Cut carrots into 2 millimetre thick slices. Quarter the turnips and leave 1 centimetre of green leaves.

9. 9

   Cut the zucchini into 5 millimetre thick diagonal pieces. Halve the fennel and cut each half into 6 pieces. Place in cold water. Tourniquet artichokes, remove hay and cut into 6 pieces.

10. 10

    Keep in lemon water. Peel the asparagus, cut off hard parts and cut off the tips at a height of 10 centimetres. Peel the bean strings. Blanch both vegetables separately for 3 minutes in boiling water.

11. 11

    Peel the outer skin of the spring onions. Fry the spring onions for 2 minutes in some olive oil. Deglaze with 50 millilitres of chicken stock and simmer covered for 5 minutes. Cool off immediately and set aside.

12. 12

    Preparation of the vegetables: Place the carrots, artichokes and fennel in a hot sauté pan with 20 millilitres of olive oil. Cover and fry for 4 minutes. Add turnips and steam for 2 minutes. Finally add the courgettes and cook for another 2 minutes on a low heat.

13. 13

    Deglaze with 50 millilitres of poultry stock and 50 millilitres of lamb jus. After 10 minutes add spring onions, broad beans, blanched asparagus tips, broad beans, pickled garlic cloves, pickled tomatoes and the thyme branch.

14. 14

    Add the rest of the poultry stock and lamb jus. Reduce the stock and jus and glaze the vegetables well.

15. 15

    Finish and arrange: Heat some olive oil in a sauté pan. Brown the lamb fillets on all sides. Cook in the oven at 200 °C for 10 to 12 minutes until the core temperature is 43 °C. Remove and place on a grid. Cover with aluminium foil and leave to rest for 10 minutes. Heat up the lamb jus. Arrange vegetables in 4 forms (20 x 4 cm). Cover with the vegetable cooked jus and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Gratinate the vegetables in the salamander. Cook the lamb fillets for another 3 minutes at 180 °C in the oven. Cut each fillet into 2 pieces. Cut the ends diagonally. Arrange the meat on the plates. Place the vegetables next to it. Cover with lamb jus

16. 16

    Recipe: Alain Ducasse: Grand Livre de Cuisine - Enjoy worldwide, Matthaes Verlag, 2009