Slow-cooked lamb, ciabatta, farro, fennel seed yoghurt by Tom Aikens
FOR THE PICKLED RED ONION
Red onions: 3, thinly sliced
Distilled vinegar: 230g
Water : 100g
Bay leaves: 2
Fresh thyme: 10g
Demerara sugar: 100g
Salt: 10g
Black peppercorns : 2g
FOR THE LAMB
Lamb shoulder: approx. 2kg, bone-in
Olive oil: 50ml
Banana shallots: 6, cut into 2-3cm chunks
Garlic: ½ bulb, split in half, outer skin removed, and broken into pieces
Demerara sugar: 30g
Fresh thyme: 12g
Fresh rosemary: 15g
Bay leaves: 3, cut in half
Cherry tomatoes: 300g, cut in half
Balsamic vinegar: 350ml
Fresh basil: 20g
Fine sea salt : 12g
Fresh black pepper: 2g
FOR THE FENNEL SEED YOGHURT
Thick yoghurt: 500g
Salt: 4g
Fennel seeds: 1.5g, toasted and finely crushed
Fenugreek seeds : 1.5g, toasted and finely crushed
Mint leaves: 4-5
Basil leaves: 4-5
Lemon zest: 1/2 a lemon
Lemon juice: optional
FOR THE FARRO SALAD
Vegetable stock: 225ml, boiling
Farro: 150g
Lemon: 1/2, zest and juice
Orange: 1/2, zest and juice
Salt: 4g
Finely crushed black pepper: 1g
Kalamata olives: 15g, roughly chopped
Pine nuts: 15g
Sundried tomatoes: 50g, covered in boiling stock and diced 0.5cm (the stock can be used to cook the farro)
Fennel seeds: 1g, finely crushed
FOR THE PESTO
Rocket: 20g
Basil: 20g
Pine nuts: 40g
Hard cheese: 55g, grated (sheep’s cheese or parmesan)
Garlic: 1 clove, microplaned
Milled pepper: 6 turns
Sea salt: 1.5g
Olive oil: 100g
ASSEMBLY (PER SANDWICH)
Ciabatta: 1
Lamb meat: 80g, picked and warmed
Farro salad: 35g
Fennel seed yoghurt: 30g
Pickled red onion: 20g
Pesto: 20g
Basil leaves: 3-4, large
Rocket: 12g
Discover chef Tom Aikens' recipe in collaboration with Forno bakery for A Fine Collab: a delicious, Italian-inspired sandwich with juicy lamb on crisp ciabatta
A Fine Collab by S.Pellegrino and Fine Dining Lovers is where fine dining meets street food. For the first collaboration in London, we paired chef Tom Aikens of Muse restaurant with much-loved Italian bakery Forno. The result is a delicious Italian-inspired sandwich, stuffed with juicy lamb, creamy yoghurt and healthy farro, plus pesto and pickled onions.
Serves 10-12
- Cut the onions in half, then lay on their cut sides and slice on a mandolin.
- Simmer vinegar, water, bay, thyme, sugar, salt and pepper until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Leave to cool.
- Pour onto the thinly sliced onions and compress 2 times. They may need more seasoning.
- Drizzle the lamb with a little olive oil, season well with salt and pepper, place onto a tray and colour very well in a 220°C oven, until dark golden brown, approx. 20-30 mins, turning over halfway through.
- Remove the lamb and place onto cooling wires.
- Add the shallots and garlic to a pan, season with the salt and pepper, add the sugar, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves, and cook for 10-12 mins until golden in colour. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook for another 5 mins. Add the balsamic vinegar, then add the basil.
- Place the lamb back onto the tray, baste with the sauce, then lay over 2 sheets of parchment paper.
- Seal it in with two sheets of tin foil, making sure no steam can escape.
- Cook overnight for approx. 8 hours at 120°C until the lamb is falling off the bone
- When ready, allow the lamb to cool in its own liquor for 1 hr.
- Remove the lamb from the tray and pick off all the meat from the bone.
- Place the meat onto one tray, and the waste and bones into a saucepan with any trim (this will be used for the sauce). Flake all the meat down.
- Place the cooking juices into the pan with all the bones and trim, cover to the top with water, bring to a simmer, skim, and cook for 60 mins at a steady simmer.
- Tip all into a colander over a saucepan, place a weight on top so all the juices press out and reduce by ½. Simmer and skim off all the fat and scum (approx. 30 mins) and thicken with diluted corn flour.
- Pass through a fine sieve, tapping the sauce over the lamb.
- Mix the yoghurt, salt and toasted seeds, then strain in a muslin for a day.
- Add the mint and basil, cut thinly, the lemon zest, and a little lemon juice if needed.
- Place the farro into a bowl with all of the ingredients, then place, covered in clingfilm, over a bowl of steaming water for 25 mins, or until the farro has absorbed all of the stock and is tender.
- Place everything into a mini blender for 20-30 seconds, place into a clean container and then into the fridge. You can also add mayonnaise to this if you wish.
- Spread the pesto onto the bottom part of the bread first. Then add, in succession, the lamb, the red onion, the rocket and the basil leaves.
- Spread the yoghurt on the top part of the bread, then the farro salad on top of the yoghurt, and close the sandwich.
