Breaded breast of lamb with split peas

Serves 4

To serve, spoon the peas on to plates and arrange the lamb on top (Jason Lowe)

Thankfully all my banging on about those old-fashioned cuts of meat seems to have paid off. Waitrose now sells a really interesting selection of cuts such as cheeks, tongues and breasts – cuts that chefs love cooking and which all good butchers should stock. I do hope the punters give these cuts a try, as the flavours are second to none and they cost relatively little. Like all good things, these cuts benefit from slow, careful cooking. And if you are cooking this recipe, it needs preparing overnight.

1 breast of lamb, boned, rolled and tied, weighing about 600g
A few tablespoons of vegetable oil for frying
A couple of good knobs of butter
1 onion, peeled and quartered
A few sprigs of thyme
A few sprigs of rosemary
4 cloves of garlic
1 litre hot chicken or beef stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2tbsp plain flour
1 egg, beaten
80-100g fresh white breadcrumbs

For the split-pea dressing

100g green split peas, soaked overnight in cold water
1 large shallot, peeled and finely chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled, cut into fine dice
2tsp English mustard
1tbsp cider vinegar
4-6tbsp extra-virgin rapeseed oil, plus extra
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 160C/gas mark 3. Season the lamb, heat a little vegetable oil in a frying pan and brown the lamb on a fairly high heat. Place the lamb in an ovenproof dish with a tight-fitting lid. Add the vegetables, herbs and stock, season, cover and cook in the oven for about 1 hours or until the lamb is tender. Remove the lamb and leave to cool and preferably refrigerate overnight.

Meanwhile, drain and rinse the split peas, place in a saucepan, cover with lightly salted water, bring to the boil and simmer for about 15-20 minutes or until tender; drain and leave to cool. Cook the shallot and carrot in half the rapeseed oil for 2-3 minutes; remove from the heat.

Once the peas are cool, mix them in a bowl with mustard, vinegar and the rest of the rapeseed oil to make a thick dressing. Season and add more mustard and vinegar or oil to taste if necessary.

Remove the string from the lamb and cut into -¾cm thick slices. Have 3 bowls ready: one for the flour, one for the beaten egg and one for the breadcrumbs. Season the flour well and coat the lamb in the flour first, shaking off any excess flour, then pass the slices through the egg and finally the breadcrumbs. Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan and cook the slices of lamb for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden, adding a knob of butter during cooking. Remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper. To serve, spoon the peas on to plates and arrange the lamb on top.