It’s mid-June and I have returned home with four lamb steaks. It’s the sort of thing I buy when my mind is elsewhere. I think I was after a “nothing-special” lunch of ease and straightforwardness, yet once the steaks and their fine frame of white fat had been brushed with olive oil and the leaves and flowers of thyme, and were sizzling on the blackened garden grill, I realized I had an extraordinary treat on my hands. Instead of a mound of petits pois at the lamb’s side, I blitzed the peas to a smooth purée with mint and melted butter.

　　

Ingredients

enough for 4

　　thyme – 6 bushy sprigs

　　a little olive oil

　　lamb steaks – 4, or 12 small rib chops

　　

For the Pea Puree

shelled peas – 3 cups (400g)

　　mint – 4 sprigs

　　melted butter – 4 tablespoons

　　

Optional

pea shoots – 4 small handfuls

　　extra-virgin olive oil

　　

Step 1

Chop the thyme, then mash it in a pestle and mortar with a large pinch of salt. Stir in the olive oil and a grinding of pepper. Brush over the lamb and set aside for thirty minutes.

　　

Step 2

Boil the peas in lightly salted water until tender. Meanwhile, put the mint leaves, butter, and a pinch of salt into a blender or food processor and whiz until smooth. Drain the peas and whiz them in the blender or processor with the mint butter until you have a thick, green cream. If you need to keep it warm, put it in a bowl covered with aluminum foil in a pan of hot water.

　　

Step 3

Grill the lamb on both sides until the outside has crisped and the inside is still rose pink and juicy. Depending on the thickness of your lamb and the heat of your grill, this will take about four minutes on each side.

　　

Step 4

Divide the pea cream among four warm plates. Place the cooked lamb on top, then a handful of pea shoots on the lamb. Shake a little olive oil over the lamb and pea shoots and serve.

　　Tender