Recipe: Lamb and Caper Pudding

with Roast Carrots

So we are at Easter weekend again and despite my daily walks showing me that spring is very much underway, the weather still feels chill enough for me to hanker for wintery foods. I think this recipe bridges the winter/spring gap nicely. You can treat it as a traditional casserole/braise if you like and serve with early spring vegetables, but you can also do what I shall be doing this weekend and turn it into a filling for a suet pudding. The star of the show either way is the marriage of lamb and capers - a classic combination (think roast mutton and caper sauce) which I hope I will be enjoying on Easter Sunday. Sides - well, I am going for roast carrots, some greens - early asparagus if I can get it, otherwise winter greens such as kalettes, still in season, just. And either buttered new potatoes (first of the Jerseys are available I think) or a classic dauphinois. You could also make a pie. I like doing the pudding thing because I love suet puddings (made with proper suet, not the vegan stuff made from palm oil), but also because the puddings cook so well in a pressure cooker and I won’t need to switch my oven on, for the pudding or any of the sides I mention above.

A word about capers – one of my favourite things in the world, but I don’t like them overly salted or pickled. Quite a few years ago now, I was staying with my parents who live in the Mani Peninsula, in Greece, and a new organic shop opened up in Kardamyli. Owned and run by a Romanian couple, they sold a lot of their own grown and foraged produce, and cured their own capers. Instead of preserving in salt or vinegar, after the brining process they preserved in their own olive oil. The result is the most capery of capers I have ever tasted. I have been bringing them back home ever since but have now found them in the UK – Ealing Grocers, owned by Andy Harris who also has links to Greece, sells them, and you can find them in places like Borough Market. Well worth seeking out if you like capers and want an enhanced caper experience! The oil is useful too, I save it and use in salad dressings.

Lamb and Caper Casserole/Pudding

For the casserole/filling:

700g lamb shoulder, trimmed of fat and diced

1 tbsp plain flour

1 tbsp mustard powder

3-4 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 large carrot, finely diced

2 celery sticks, finely diced

100ml white wine

1 large sprig thyme

2 bay leaves

2 sprigs rosemary

Chicken stock or water to cover

1 large piece pared lemon zest

4 tbsp capers, drained

Finely chopped mint or parsley, to garnish (if making a casserole)

For the suet crust:

200g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

25g butter, chilled and diced (plus more for greasing)

75g suet

Season the lamb with salt and pepper, then toss in the flour and mustard powder.

Heat 1 tbsp of the olive oil either in your pressure cooker, remembering that if it is stainless steel to heat it first. If you are using a stove top, simply place it on a medium high heat, if you are using an electric pressure cooker, put it on high saute.

Sear the lamb on all sides – you want a good brown crust to develop – then remove to a plate. You will probably have to do this in 2-3 batches, adding a little more oil each time. Make sure you don’t crowd the pan as you want the meat to brown, not steam in its own juices.

Add any remaining oil to your cooker, then add the onion, carrot and celery. Saute on a low to medium heat until lightly coloured, stirring frequently. Hopefully, this will be enough to do a good job of deglazing the base of your cooker, it will certainly help as the vegetables start softening and release liquid.

Turn up the heat again and pour in the white wine. Add the thyme and use it help clean the base of your pressure cooker – it is brush like and will be very effective – as the wine boils off. Add the remaining herbs and return the lamb to the cooker. Add just enough stock or water to almost cover the lamb (I added 200ml), then season again with salt and pepper. Close the lid and bring up to high pressure. Cook for 20 minutes, then remove from the heat and leave to drop pressure naturally.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the lamb from the cooker. Strain the liquid and other solids into a saucepan. Push the vegetable matter with the back of a ladle to puree as much of it through the sieve as possible. Transfer to a saucepan and add the piece of lemon zest. Chop half the capers and add these too.

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Next, options:

If you are eating this as a casserole, add the lamb and the whole capers to the gravy too, and gently reheat. You could also add more vegetables if you liked - I would be tempted to add some roast or grilled artichoke hearts which I think also go very well with capers. Keep warm until you are ready to serve.

If you are making a pie or pudding, you need to cool down the lamb and gravy to room temperature, or preferably chill. This is because you should never put a hot filling onto cold pastry, it really doesn’t like it.

To make the suet pastry crust, butter a large (1-1.2l pudding basin). Put the flour and baking powder in a bowl and add a generous pinch of salt. Rub in the butter, then stir in the suet. Add just enough water to make a firm, fairly dry dough – it needs to hold together but mustn’t be tacky. Cut off a quarter of the dough for the lid. Flour a worksurface and roll out the rest.

Line the pudding basin with the rolled out pastry, letting it overlap as necessary. Fill with the lamb and whole capers – it should come around two thirds of the way up the side of the basin, quite packed -  then ladle over some of the gravy. Roll out the remaining pastry into a round. Place over the lamb, then fold over any overlapping pastry and make sure it is completely sealed.

Fold a pleat into a piece of foil or baking parchment and use to cover the basin. Hold in place with string or a rubber band. To cook, either place on a trivet or on a piece of teatowel in the base, and add 3cm water.

Place the lid on top without sealing, then bring to the boil. Leave to steam for 15 minutes, then close the lid. Bring to high pressure and cook for 45 minutes. Leave to drop pressure naturally.

Leave to stand for a  5 minutes, then remove the foil or parchment and run a palette knife around the pudding. Turn out onto a plate. Heat the gravy through. Taste and add a squeeze of lemon juice if you think it is necessary, but remember to take out the piece of pared zest.

Serve with your choice of sides, and speaking of….

Quick “roast” carrots.

Carrots are naturally sweet and the pressure cooker really brings this out, especially if you pressure roast them or glaze them. This is quite a large quantity, so to sear them effectively you do need to do in two batches, but it is still a fraction of the time they would spend in the oven, so really worth it.

If you keep the heat high, you will generate a lot of steam before the lid goes on, which should mean your pressure cooker comes up to pressure immediately. It is fast and furious cooking, which I find great fun but to be really effective you need to be quite coordinated and swift when it comes to putting on the lid!

750g carrots

2 tbsp olive oil

15g butter

Leaves from a sprig of mint or tarragon, finely chopped

Prepare the carrots – make sure they are perfectly clean and trim as necessary. You can peel if you like, but I don’t tend to bother. If very thick, you can cut in half or quarters lengthways.  Heat up your pressure cooker and add half the oil. Add half the carrots and saute, shaking regularly, until they have taken on some colour on all sides. Remove and add the remaining olive oil, followed by the remaining carrots and repeat.

Return the first batch of carrots to the cooker and season with plenty of salt and some pepper. Add the butter and watch it melt around the carrots. Stir to make sure you don’t need to deglaze and add a splash of water if you do. At this point, there should be plenty of steam coming out of the cooker – if it seems there is enough to bring your cooker up to pressure, put the lid on, if not add no more than 50ml water. The addition of water will immediately create a lot of steam so have your lid ready to put into place. You should find as soon as you close it the cooker will come up to pressure almost instantly. Cook for 2-3 minutes, depending on the thickness of the carrots and the pressure cooker you are using, then fast release. Sprinkle with the mint or tarragon and serve immediately.