Louis Latour Agencies

Easter inspiration with a wine to match

02 March 2021

Matthieu Longuere MS from Le Cordon Bleu has picked Louis Latour Les Pierres Dorees Pinot Noir to pair with a delicious Easter Lamb dish.

 

"The immediate image that comes to mind when one thinks of Easter food is chocolate, and plenty of it.

If you’re over the novelty of chocolate eggs and want a more grown up treat, indulge in this delicious dish of Spring lamb accompanied by seasonal vegetables.

In this Easter Lamb dish, the meat does not present a challenge, but the strong flavour of mint and sweet and sour pickled onion would clash with an overtly tannic wine, leaving a metallic taste in the mouth. Louis Latour provide us with the perfect partner with its Pinot Noir Les Pierres Dorées coming from the south of the Beaujolais region in France. This Pinot Noir has enough body and black Cherry fruit to handle the lamb while retaining enough freshness and acidity so as it is not going to fight with the crème fraiche and the onion. I would recommend serving it slightly cooler, to highlight its fruitiness and perfume; 15 minutes in the fridge before serving would do.

Of course, there’s nothing stopping you from cracking open the chocolate eggs for dessert!"

 

Slow Cooked Breast of Lamb, Pickled Red Onion, Mint Crème Fraiche and Spring Vegetables

Slow cooking the breast of lamb makes for a tender texture; here it is marinated and slow cooked in duck fat creating a rich flavour which is complemented the sweet pickled onions and finished with green spring vegetables and a refreshing minty crème fraiche.  

 

Serves: 4

Preparation time: about 4 hours plus resting time

Ingredients:

Slow cooked breast of lamb

• 6 garlic cloves
• 3 rosemary sprigs
• 10 g Maldon sea salt
• 500 g lamb breast, off the bone
• duck fat to cover (about 1 kg)
• 150 g flour
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 500 g Panko breadcrumbs
• salt and pepper

Pickled red onion

• 10 g granulated sugar
• 20 ml red wine vinegar
• 30 ml water
• 1 thyme sprig
• 1 red onion

Mint crème fraiche

• 50 g mint
• 200 g crème fraiche
• salt and pepper

Spring vegetables

• 12 asparagus spears
• 100 g broad beans
• 100 g peas
• 60 g lambs lettuce
• ½ bunch French breakfast radish

 

20 g butter

salt and pepper

 

Method:

1. Slow cooked breast of lamb:  Peel and crush the garlic cloves, pick the leaves off the rosemary sprigs and finely chop, add to the Maldon sea salt and mix to combine.  Rub the mixture over the surface of the lamb and cure for 3 to 6 hours in the fridge.  Preheat oven to 150˚C.  Using cold water wash the lamb to remove the salt mixture and pat dry.  Melt the duck fat in a pan over a low heat.  Place the lamb in a deep oven proof dish and pour over the warm duck fat.  Bake until soft and tender, about 3 hours.  Allow lamb to cool before removing from fat.  Roll tightly in plastic film to create a cylindrical tube shape (ballotine).  Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.  Slice lamb into 8 equal sized disks.  Coat lamb in a thin layer of flour, then beaten eggs and finally breadcrumbs (pané).  Season and refrigerate until required.
2. Pickled red onions: Transfer sugar, vinegar, water and thyme into a pan and bring to a boil.  Peel and thinly slice the onion.  Add to pickling liquid and boil for 1 minute.  Remove from heat, cover pan with plastic wrap and leave to infuse as it cools.  When cool drain the red onion from the pickling liquid and discard the liquid.
3. Mint crème fraiche:  Wash, pick and finely chop mint leaves.  Mix with crème fraiche and season. Set aside.
4. Spring vegetables:  Peel asparagus. Bring salted water to a boil in a saucepan.  Separately boil each type of vegetable until just soft, refreshing the water each time, about 3 minutes for the asparagus, about 2 minutes for the broad beans and about 1 minute for the peas.  Drain, refresh and set aside.  Gently squeeze the broad beans from their skins and discard the skins.  Wash the lambs lettuce leaves and thinly slice the radishes lengthways. Set aside until required.
5. To serve:  Increase oven temperature to 200˚C.  Bake the prepared lamb on an oven sheet until the breadcrumbs are golden brown and crispy, about 20 minutes.  Reheat asparagus, peas and broad beans in a pan with butter and a tablespoon of water.  Season to taste.  Arrange warm vegetables on the plate, add 2 disks of lamb, and top with radish slices, lambs lettuce and pickled onions.  Finish with dots of mint crème fraiche.