Char-Grilled Lamb Rumps with Balsamic Tomatoes

3:49 am on 10 February 2007

(Serves 4)

Ingredients

  • These lamb rumps are excellent served with couscous, or a potato or kumara (sweet potato) mash.
  • 150g Roma (oval-shaped) tomatoes, or use fleshy tomatoes, not watery ones
  • 4 lamb rumps, weighing about 150g each
  • olive oil
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 16 cherry tomatoes, washed and dried
  • 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • dash balsamic vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp finely chopped mint
  • 1 tsp chopped rosemary

Method

Skin the Roma tomatoes. Cut them in half, flick the seeds into a sieve set over a bowl and leave the seeds to drain. Dice the tomato flesh.

Rub lamb rumps with olive oil and plenty of pepper. Cook the rumps on a very hot barbecue grill rack until done to your liking (the outside should be well seared; when the meat is bouncy or springy to the touch it is rare; when it still moves under pressure, but has lost the bounce, it is medium; when it feels firm and offers no resistance to pressure, it is well done. My preference is between medium rare and medium- cooked for around 15-20 minutes).

Transfer the lamb to a board and sprinkle both sides very generously with salt. Leave meat to stand for 2-3 minutes while preparing the tomatoes.

Put 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a small frying pan and set it over a medium-high heat. When hot, tip in the cherry tomatoes. Toss the tomatoes in the pan and cook for 20 seconds, until glazed. Turn tomatoes onto a plate and wipe out the pan.

Warm the extra virgin olive oil in the frying pan. Add the ground coriander, then the diced tomato and strained juice, a good splash of balsamic vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and the herbs. Warm through, then turn off the heat.

Slice the meat thinly across the grain and transfer to plates. Spoon the tomato jus over the lamb and garnish with the cherry tomatoes. Serve immediately.

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