Not Just a Man's World

Lamb breast is sold very cheaply in our supermarket.  It is considered one of the throw-away joints as it contains less meat than the rest of the chops.  The way it is sold in the supermarket is pre-boned and rolled, and it is sold in small rolls that are about 6 inches long and 2 inches in diameter.  When unrolled it is a couple of feet long and about half an inch thick although my supermarket has a habit of rolling two pieces, each about a foot long, together.

If you get one that hasn’t been boned then carefully cut the bones out of it without cutting right through the sheet of lamb.  Also bend the sheet of lamb to be sure you find all the soft bones as well as the obvious ones.

This is another slow cooker recipe, cooked in a similar way to the roast chicken.  If you don’t have a slow cooker then I recommend double-sealing in a small casserole dish (a foil lid before applying the casserole dish lid) and baking in a medium oven (approximately 160-170C) for 2-3 hours.  If you do try this without a slow cooker, please share what cooking times and temperatures work.

Paleo roast breast of lamb

Ingredients (serves 2):
1 aubergine, cut into half inch cubes
1 breast of lamb
3-4 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped (but not minced)

Directions:

1. First prepare the aubergine.  It’s going to take a while but I have very successfully discovered that the dry-roasting method of removing the water and bitterness from the aubergine that I mentioned in my moussaka recipe last year works very well and doesn’t leave the dish with an overwhelming taste of salt.  On a baking tray or an oven shelf, lay out a layer of kitchen paper.  On this spread the aubergine cubes in a single layer and then cover with another layer of kitchen paper.  Weigh this top layer down – I found that a layer of metal knives and spoons from my kitchen drawer worked very well, not overly squashing the aubergine but providing enough weight to stop the kitchen paper blowing off from the fan or losing touch with the aubergine cubes.
2. Put the tray of aubergine cubes into an oven heated to 175C for about 35-40 minutes (if you had thin slices you would dry-roast for about 25-30 minutes).
3. Once done, remove the aubergine cubes from the oven and remove from the kitchen paper discarding any small pieces of aubergine that may have got burned through.
4. Take the breast of lamb and lay out on a table top in a flat sheet (if you find yourself with two smaller pieces lay them out alongside each other).  Sprinkle the parsley and garlic evenly over the sheet of lamb.
5. Roll the sheet of breast up tightly (if you had two pieces, lay one on top of the other and then roll) and tie it together with a couple of pieces of string.  Make sure it isn’t nylon or coloured string so that it doesn’t melt.
6. Place the lamb breast in the bottom of the slow cooker pot and surround with the dried aubergine cubes.  Drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil over the aubergine cubes and then drizzle a tablespoon of water over the aubergine in the same way.
7. Bake on high for 3-4 hours.
8. When done, lift the lamb out of the pot and leave to stand for 10 minutes before carving. Spoon the aubergine cubes onto a dish for serving with the lamb and then carefully spoon off and discard as much of the oil off the top of the sauce in the bottom of the pot before using the juices in the bottom of the pot as a gravy.

Related posts:

1. Paleo recipes: slow-cooker pot roast beef
2. Paleo recipes: lemon and ginger slow-roast chicken
3. Paleo recipes: slow cooker Thai pork
4. Paleo recipes: stuffed lamb hearts