So, don’t be thrown off by the name of this dish, because let me assure you that it’s not lamb on a lollipop stick. It is actually a very delicious main course (also often served as an appetizer). We baked it with some root vegetables and served it with roasted potatoes! Mmmmm, yummy! Follow these steps to make this dish at your next dinner party or gathering and your guests will rave about your cooking skills!
Ingredients
- 14 lamb lollipops
- 12 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 1/2 cup of a cold butter
- handful of fresh sage leaves
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 12 cloves garlic, unpeeled
- 3 large carrots, peeled and finely sliced
- 1 onion, peeled and finely sliced
- 2 leek, washed, halved and finely sliced
- olive oil
- 2 wineglasses white wine
Method
Preheat your oven to 180ºC/350ºF. Pick the leaves off 4 sprigs of rosemary, whiz them with the butter, most of the sage and the thyme in a food processor and season with salt and pepper. Using a small knife, take one of the lamb lollipops and cut between the meat and the bone from the base. You want to create a hole big enough to put your pinky finger in, making a sort of pocket. Do this to all the lollipops and divide the flavoured butter between them, pushing it into the pockets (see first photo).
Tear off four arm-length pieces of tinfoil and fold each in half to give you four A3-sized pieces of foil. Divide the garlic and veg between them, making a pile in the middle of each square. Rub each of the lamb lollipops with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, then put two on top of each pile of veg and a sprig of rosemary and a few sage leaves on top of that.
Carefully pull up the sides of the foil around the lollipop and pour a swig of wine into each. Gather the foil around the bone, pinching it together tightly. Any excess foil can be torn or cut off with scissors. Repeat for all 7 parcels of foil, then place the foil parcels on a baking tray with the bones facing up. Put in the preheated oven for 1.5 hours or until the meat is as tender as can be. Serve the parcels in the middle of the table so that your guests can open them up themselves.
