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Tom’s Lamp Rump with Rosemary Polenta & Parmesan

Tom Aikens

Effort:
Complexity:
Cost:

Serves: 4

Prep time: 5 mins + overnight marinating for the lamb

Cook time: 50 mins

Ingredients:

For the lamb and veg:

250-300g lamb rump

150ml olive oil

8 cloves of garlic, bashed

4 rosemary sprigs

8 thyme sprigs

2 bay leaves, finely sliced

1 bag (about 200g) fresh spinach

1/2 pointed or white cabbage, finely sliced or 1 bag (200g) of shredded kale leaves, optional

a few handfuls of fresh or frozen peas

For the polenta:

150g polenta

500ml chicken stock (in addition)

1 teaspoon fresh chopped rosemary

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 large tablespoon of natural yogurt

50g grated Parmesan

2g sea salt

25g olive oil

6 spring onions, thinly sliced

Veg Portions / Serving: 1

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Recipe donated by Tom Aikens for Veg Power. Food photography by John Lawrence Jones | johnlawrencejones.com Portrait photography by David Griffen | davidgriffen.com

This lamb rump with rosemary polenta recipe is a great comfort dish and takes me back to my time as a kid when my mother used to do a good home roast with mash potato and this is a lighter simpler version, it’s a great way to get kids to try a version of starch & carbs, that you can then add any extra veg like peas, shredded cabbage or kale to, and even fresh herbs like parsley, thyme, mint or chives. You can then adapt it how you like and even make the polenta vegetarian by adding a veg stock instead of chicken stock and serving with a veggie protein.

Method:

Combine the oil (120ml), herbs and garlic and coat the lamb in this mixture.  Leave these to marinate for a day before cooking, take out of the fridge for an hour before use so they are at room temperature.

Place a shallow frying pan on a medium heat, add the remaining olive oil, season the rumps and add to the pan, colour them all over, adding a little butter (about 10g) after approximately 4-5 minutes. Once sealed and golden brown, place into the oven at 170C/gas 3. These will then take approximately 8-10 minutes to cook to medium rare, depending on the size. Once they are cooked let them rest for 3 minutes, and then slice them thinly. While they are resting, add the peas and spinach (and kale or cabbage if using) to the pan, and cook until peas are soft and cooked and the spinach is wilted.

For the polenta, put the chicken stock, salt and rosemary into a pan and bring to a simmer, then slowly whisk in the polenta until it starts to thicken & add the olive oil.  Cover with a sheet of greaseproof paper and leave to the side of the stove or cook on a very low heat. This will take approximately 15 minutes to cook, stir every few minutes – if it gets too thick then add a little more stock. Place a small sauté pan on a low heat, add a little olive oil and the spring onions with a little salt and pepper, and cook for no more than 2 minutes. Then add this to the polenta and then the Parmesan cheese and yogurt. Check the seasoning and serve with the lamb and green vegetables.

Engaging Kids

Engaging Kids

Kids who engage regularly with veg through veg-themed activities, such as arts and crafts, sensory experiences, growing and cooking are shown to be more likely to eat the veg they engage with. Encouraging kids to engage and play with veg is the handy first step to them developing a good relationship with veg and life-long healthy eating.

Kids in the kitchen

Kids in the kitchen

See if you can get kids to make the marinade by measuring the oil and herbs and peeling and bashing the garlic. Then, if they enjoy getting messy, they can rub it all over the lamb. Get them to smell the herbs and garlic as they go along, as it’s a great way of helping them to identify different ingredients and understand how you can add flavours to meat before cooking.

Activities

Activities

While getting kids to interact with veggies for real and using their senses to explore them is best, encouraging hands off activities like arts & crafts, puzzles & games or at-home science experiments can be a great start, particularly for those who are fussier eaters or struggle with anything too sensory. Use these veg-themed activities as a stepping stone to interacting with the veg themselves. We have loads of crafty downloads here, puzzles here, and quirky science with veg here.

Sensory

Sensory

Once you feel your child is ready to engage a little more, you can show them how to explore the veg you have on hand with their senses, coming up with playful silly descriptions of how a veg smells, feels, looks, sounds and perhaps even tastes. Find ideas, videos and some simple sensory education session ideas to get you started here.

Serving

Serving

The moments before food is offered can be a perfect opportunity for engagement that can help make it more likely a child will eat it! Giving children a sense of ownership in the meal can make a big difference to their feelings going into it and the pride they take in it. You know your child best, but if you aren’t sure where to start, we have some fun and simple ideas for easy roles you can give them in the serving process over here.

Tom Aikens

Tom Aikens is one of the UK’s most acclaimed British chefs. He became the youngest British chef ever to be awarded 2 Michelin stars, has opened restaurants all over the world and written 3 books.

TomAikens.co.uk

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