Available as an Easter special from Good Friday through to Easter Monday at Fumo and Cicchetti restaurants, our spring lamb cooked in hay celebrates the flavours of the new season. Delicious and healthy, roasting in hay gives the lamb a delightful smokiness whilst fresh rosemary and thyme add an aromatic touch.

Why not try our recipe at home?

Serves 2 people

Ingredients

Rack of lamb cut into 4 thick sections

A few handfuls of hay

200ml white wine

40 ml olive oil extra virgin

A few sprigs of fresh rosemary and thyme

5g juniper berries

5g fennel seed

20g crushed garlic with the skin left on

5 bay leaves

1 tea spoon bicarbonate of soda

salt and pepper to season

5g black pepper

Method

Place all ingredients (except hay) together in a bowl and mix

Remove and place in a dish, layer by layer, with hay between each layer

Place in the fridge to marinade for 24 hours

Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees

Remove the lamb and hay from the bowl, leaving the liquid behind

Place the lamb in a roasting pan with a small amount of hay on top and underneath the lamb heat on the hob until the hay begins to smoke

Cover with a lid or foil

Place in the oven

Cook at 200 degrees for 10-12 minutes to suit your taste

Remove from the oven, drizzle with a little olive oil and chopped parsley and serve with mash, celeriac or potato gratin and green beans.

This month our Executive Chef Filippo Pagani brings you a very simple authentic Italian dish, rich and delicious. Onions have never tasted so good.

Spaghetti Cipolla is available on the new seasonal specials menu at our Cicchetti restaurants in Manchester and London Piccadilly and Covent Garden where it’s made with some very special Italian ingredients. Here we’ve shown you how to make a simpler version with readily available ingredients. Enjoy!

Ingredients to serve 4

4 Large white onions

80ml Olive oil

4g Bay leaf

200ml Prosecco

10g Salt and pepper

4 litre vegetable stock

320g Spaghetti

250g Chives

90g Butter

180g Castelmagno or Parmesan Cheese

Method:

Finely chop the onions and lightly fry with the bay leaves in a little olive oil until golden in colour.

Reduce the heat to a low level and add the Prosecco. Season with salt and pepper and continue to cook the onion on a very low heat for 24 hours, adding small amounts of water as needed.  You can cook for 8 hours and leave overnight and then cook again the following day if preferred.  Or, you can cook for just two hours but the flavour will be less intense.

Cook the spaghetti, drain and leave to the side.  Fry the chives and add the onion, spaghetti, butter and cheese. Stir thoroughly.

This is the simplest, and tastiest, of dishes. Of course the hardest element is the time and patience with the onions, but we can assure you it’s worth it.

Sprinkle with Parmesan and enjoy with a fresh green herb salad.