Loin of Lamb with Red wine sauce and Sloe jelly

It goes to show, a simple Sunday dinner can become personal… Oh well. Here is the step by step of this tasty recipe, I didn’t plan it, it just happened… It all started at the market, on Saturday morning, when I stumbled upon a fine looking butternut squash…

I cut it in half, rubbed with olive oil and sea salt. I baked it in the oven for a good 25 minutes at 200c. I also added a whole bulb of garlic, chopped its base off and together they went; this is going to be a mash… Until it’s ready, I gathered a few ingredients to give my red wine sauce a bit of body….

A pink onion, shallots, celery, garlic and carrot… Wash them, peel them and chopp them in small enough pieces but it doesn’t have to be too neat…

In a pot, sweat all those vegetables ( fry gently) with a bit of salt and olive oil… It will release their flavours. Once that done, cover with a generous 30cl of red wine and let it simmer until reduced a bit ( 15 min should do, but gently)…

Ok, this is ready now, take a sieve and a pot to put underneath and you can keep the cooked veg for a soup tomorrow or something. You won’t need them for this dish anyway so bye-bye!

Now, let’s check our butternut squash… Yep, it’s ready!

With a spoon, gently scoop the inside and remove the seeds area. Put in a bowl and once done, pluk the roasted garlic cloves out and add them to the mix with a hand full of chopped parsley and a bit of fresh cream…

Mash the squash and set aside… As the day was coming to a close last Saturday, I spotted a rack of lamb that wasn’t going to be sold; I don’t normally go for lamb but the idea of having it going to waste was bothering me. The plan was to remove the loin, the tender bit in the middle; with the rest I will do a nice stock that I’ll freeze later…

With a sharp skinny knife, remove the loin from the bone, it is actually easier than it looks; remove the fatty parts and you should get two nice pieces, lean and clean…

Ok, now back to our sauce… A lovely local customer gave me a jar of sloe jelly she made, I normally use redcurrant jelly for this but the temptation was too good to turn down…

Just put a couple of tsps in the sauce and let simmer gently…

At that stage, I put the roasties in the oven with olive oil an rosmary, before they are cooked ( 30c at 200C) I will add a generous bit of butter in there…

Ok, nearly ready to serve… Take the loin(s) and sprinkle a bit of dried herbs on it, like thyme and give it a bit of colour on a hot pan before finishing it in the oven for 15 min for pink, 20 if you like it well down, but pink is better…

Ok, make sure all your ingredients are hot, we are going to serve… Just add a knob of butter in the sauce before serving, it should be smooth and not too thin ( reduction is key). A perfect Sunday treat, Loin of Lamb with roasted butternut squash and red wine with sloe jelly sauce…