At this time of year, food should be at its simplest because the ingredients are so perfect.
At this time of year, food should be at its simplest because the ingredients are so perfect. So how about a rack of British lamb, sprigged with rosemary, seared quickly on both sides in a frying pan and roasted for about 15 minutes so it’s pink inside? For the accompanying vegetables, try the smallest new potatoes you can find, scrubbed and boiled for about 12 minutes and served with melted butter.
A bunch of new season’s carrots should be stewed slowly in the oven with a nut of butter. Add a big handful of fresh peas per person, podded and boiled for less than 10 minutes, with chopped lettuce leaves and spring onion, in the French manner.
If you can’t get fresh peas, frozen petits pois are better than old, Methuselah peas, which taste floury and bitter.
Don’t use the predictable mint sauce, but a nice jar of rosemary or lavender jelly for the latter, put a few sprigs of lavender in the lamb instead of rosemary. Cover everything with parsley.
