Spring Vegetables with Pepper-Crusted Lamb (with Wine Pairings)
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (60ml) buttermilk
- 1/4 cup (70g) low-fat thick Greek-style yoghurt
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
- 550g lamb backstrap
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon mixed peppercorns, coarsely ground
- 100g broccolini
- 100g green beans
- 100g podded broad beans
- 100g podded peas
- 8 spring onions (white part only), sliced on an angle
- 2 radishes, thinly sliced
Method
- Preheat oven to 200°C. Place the buttermilk, yoghurt, vinegar and 2 tablespoons of oil in a bowl, season, then whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large frypan over high heat. Season the lamb and cook for 1-2 minutes each side until browned. Cool slightly, then brush all over with mustard.
- Coat in pepper, then place on a baking tray and roast for 6-7 minutes until cooked through. Cover loosely with foil and rest for 5 minutes, then thickly slice.
- Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add broccolini, beans and peas, then cook for 4 minutes or until just tender. Drain, then toss with the spring onion and radish. Divide the salad and lamb among plates and serve with the dressing.
Pair it with Wine
Enzed Pinot Noir
A full flavoured medium bodied wine, with great length and solid structure, offering soft cherry and plum like ripe Pinot Noir flavours, complemented by fine grained tannins and attractive lingering French oak characters. It provides immediate drinking pleasure,
or alternatively, it will continue to gain complexity with up to 5 years cellaring.
Oyster Bay Sparkling Cuvee
The free-run juice is cold settled to partial clarity, followed by a slow, temperature controlled primary fermentation at 14°C for several weeks to develop the elegant, assertive flavours in the base wine. The base wine (Cuvée) is then inoculated with a neutral yeast to undertake a secondary pressure tank fermentation to develop the naturally delicate, finely bubbled palate and refreshing finish in the wine.
Taylors Estate Tempranillo
This wine displays rich dark cherry fruit characteristics with hints of spicy incense and underlying dusty oak aromas on the nose. This is a medium-bodied wine with flavours of maraschino cherry, plums and subtle spice along with well-integrated savoury French oak. There is a pleasing soft and silky texture to the mid palate and the wine has a long, persistent finish.