Preparation time
less than 30 mins
Cooking time
over 2 hours
Serves
Serves 2–4

From Saturday Kitchen
Ingredients
For the lamb ribs
- 1 rack lamb ribs
- 1 bay leaf
- bunch rosemary
- 1 head garlic
- 1 litre/1¾ pint light olive oil or vegetable oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- watercress, to garnish
For the shallot purée
- 15g/½oz unsalted butter
- 250g/9oz banana shallots, finely chopped
- 50ml/2fl oz double cream
For the roast shallots
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 shallots, cut in half
- 25g/1oz butter
- 3 garlic cloves
- few thyme sprigs
For the crumbs
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 6 salted anchovy fillets, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- handful Panko breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
- 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh mint
Method
To make the lamb ribs, preheat the oven to 140C/120C Fan/Gas 1. Place the ribs, bay leaf, rosemary and garlic in a roasting tin and cover with the oil until they are completely submerged. Cook for 3 hours and leave to cool in the fat.
When ready to cook, remove the ribs from the fat, wipe off the excess oil and cut into individual ribs.Fry in a frying pan over a medium heat until crisp and golden. Season with salt and pepper.
To make the shallot purée, heat the butter in a frying pan and fry the shallots gently over a very low heat for 20–30 minutes. Place in a food processor or blender and blitz to a purée with the cream.
To make the roast shallots, preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the shallots, cut-side down until golden. Add the butter, garlic and thyme and cook for another few minutes. Transfer to a baking tray and roast for 15–20 minutes, or until softened.
For the crumbs, heat the olive oil in a saucepan over a high heat. Add the anchovies, garlic and cumin seeds and fry for a minute. Add the crumbs and fry until golden. Remove the mixture with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Leave to cool slightly and then sprinkle with the paprika, parsley and mint.
To serve, spoon the shallot purée onto warmed plates and top with the roast shallots and lamb ribs. Scatter over the crumbs and garnish with watercress.