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Mussel soup with crispy lamb

Preparation time
overnight

Cooking time
over 2 hours

Serves
Serves 4

 

By Ellis Barrie
From Saturday Kitchen

Ingredients

For the citrus juice

  • 1 orange, juice only
  • 2 lemons, juice only
  • 3 limes, juice only

For the mussel soup

  • 150g/5½oz white wine
  • 1kg/2lb 4oz mussels, cleaned and debearded, discard any that are open or do not close when tapped on a hard surface
  • 425g/15oz good quality olive oil
  • 200g/7oz potatoes, washed, peeled and roughly sliced
  • 100g/3½oz leeks, sliced
  • 5g/⅛oz maple syrup
  • 40ml/3 tbsp Japanese rice wine vinegar
  • 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • pinch salt
  • 3 tbsp citrus juice, from above

For the lamb breast

  • 1 lamb breast
  • 1 head garlic, cut in half
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
  • 1 stick celery, chopped
  • 2 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 150ml/¼ pt white wine
  • 600ml/20fl oz lamb or beef stock

For the parsley oil

  • 50g/1¾oz parsley
  • 50g/1¾oz vegetable oil

For the garnish

  • 4 fennel bronze fronds
  • 2 tbsp lovage, thinly sliced

Method

  1. To make the mussel soup, mix the citrus juices together in a bowl and set aside.

  2. Place a deep saucepan on a medium heat, add the wine and mussels to the pan. Steam the mussels for approximately 1 minute until they just open. Remove the mussels from their shells and set aside, discard the shells and any mussels that remain closed. Reserve the mussel stock.

  3. Heat 100g/3½oz of the olive oil in a large lidded frying pan over a low heat and gently fry the potatoes and leeks with the lid on. Once softened, transfer to a blender, add the cooked mussels and maple syrup and blend whilst slowly adding the remaining olive oil. If needed add a little of the mussel stock to achieve the correct viscosity. Season with the salt, rice vinegar, soy sauce, mussel stock and citrus juice to taste. Keep warm.

  4. To make the lamb breast, preheat the oven to 170C/150C Fan/Gas 3½ or plug in your slow cooker and set to high. Place all the ingredients into a roasting pan or slow cooker and cook for 3 hours. Once cooked remove from the oven, cool and press under a heavy weight overnight in the fridge.

  5. Once pressed, cut the lamb into 1x2cm portions and place on a baking tray. Heat the grill to high and place the lamb under for 2 minutes or until crispy.

  6. To make the parsley oil, blend the parsley and vegetable oil in a blender until smooth. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve.

  7. To serve, pour the soup into serving bowls and top with the crispy lamb pieces, bronze fennel, lovage and parsley oil.

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