THIS lovely lamb dish and two peach recipes for dessert will give you everything you need for a summer feast.
Our Roast Leg of Lamb in a Parmesan and Breadcrumb Crust is a typical lamb dish from the Liguria region of Italy and the slow cooking of the roast makes the meat extremely tender.
To serve 6-8 you need 2kg leg of lamb; 200g prosciutto, cut into 5mm thick slices; bunch of fresh rosemary cut into short lengths; 2tbsp olive oil; 100g freshly grated parmesan; 100g fresh breadcrumbs; 250ml white wine.
Preheat the oven to 180°c/gas 4. Make incisions all over the lamb and cut the prosciutto into 6cm long strips and insert deep into the incisions along with the rosemary, leaving the tops sticking out. Rub the olive oil all over the lamb and season with salt and pepper.
Mix together the cheese and breadcrumbs then carefully sprinkle this over the top and sides of the lamb, pressing well with your hands so the meat is well covered. Carefully place the meat in a roasting tin, pour the wine and an equal quantity of water into the tin, cover the whole tin with foil and place in the preheated oven for about 2½ hours. This gives you medium cooked meat so if you prefer it a little pink, cook for less time.
For the last 10 minutes of the cooking time remove the foil, increase the heat to 200°c/gas 6 and roast until the topping goes crisp and golden. This dish is lovely served with fresh minted summer peas and boiled new potatoes.
Our peach dishes feature both peaches and blueberries and the best place to buy these locally is at Bold Street market. For a classic Peach Melba you need 4 large peaches, 500g sugar; 250g Wirral raspberries; and 1tbsp lemon juice.
With a sharp knife score a cross on the base of each peach. Put the sugar into a pan and bring a litre of water to the boil, reduce the heat then add the peaches, simmer for 2 to 3 minutes or until the peaches are just cooked. Remove the peaches and peel, and keep the remaining syrup.
Increase the heat and reduce the syrup by half, add the raspberries and lemon juice and cook for a minute. Then either blitz the raspberries and syrup in a food blender or push them through a fine sieve.
To serve, place a peach in a pudding bowl, drizzle over some raspberry sauce and add vanilla ice cream.
To make this Peach and Blueberry Shortcake you need 60g plain flour; 30g corn flour; 45g soft brown sugar; ½ tsp ground ginger; ½ tsp baking powder; 1½ tbsp soft unsalted butter; 1 egg yolk; 150g blueberries; 2 peaches, peeled and sliced; 2 tbsp caster sugar.
Make a cross on the bottom of each peach, dunk in boiling water for half a minute then peel. Preheat the oven to 180°c/gas 4, sift the flours, sugar, baking powder and ginger into a bowl, then work in the butter and egg yolk to form a soft dough.
Roll it out onto a floured surface and cut into four 8cm rounds, put them onto a lined baking tray and bake for 12 minutes until golden brown, then leave to cool. Heat a small saucepan over a medium heat and add the blueberries, 2 tbsp of water and the castor sugar, heat until the sugar has melted and the berries look glossy.
Arrange the shortbread on 4 small plates with slices of peach on top, spoon over the blueberries and some juice, then finish with a dollop of whipped cream – delicious!
