Gilda butter lamb chops with smashed cucumber salad
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 30 mins to 1 hour
- Serve
- Serves 4
Juicy pan-fried lamb chops are topped with a punchy Gilda butter made with anchovies, green olives, pickled chillies and parsley. Serve with a fresh, crunchy salad of smashed cucumber, radishes, Kalamata olives and herbs.
Ingredients
For the Gilda butter lamb chops
For the smashed cucumber, radish and olive salad
- 3 small Middle Eastern cucumbers or 1 regular cucumber
- 250g/9oz radishes
- 10g/½oz mint, picked and chopped
- 10g/½oz dill, chopped
- 150g/5½oz pitted Kalamata olives, roughly chopped
- 1 lemon, juice only
- ½ tsp caster sugar
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ¾ tsp Aleppo pepper
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, for both dishes
Method
To make the Gilda butter, put the garlic, anchovies, olives and pickled chillies on a chopping board. Finely chop everything together, then add the parsley and continue chopping until finely combined. Alternatively, use a mini food processor, taking care not to blend everything into a smooth paste.
Transfer the mixture to a bowl and beat in the softened butter and lemon zest. Season with a generous pinch of salt and pepper, then taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
Spoon the butter onto a sheet of greaseproof paper and roll into a log. Chill in the fridge until needed. This can be kept in the fridge for 1 week, or frozen for 3 months.
Take the lamb chops remove the chops from the fridge 20 minutes before cooking, along with the Gilda butter.
Heat a griddle or frying pan over a high heat until hot. Rub the lamb chops with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Cook the lamb chops for about 4 minutes on each side for lamb that's still slightly pink in the middle, adjusting the cooking time depending on their thickness and how you like them cooked. Try not to move the chops while they're frying so they develop a golden crust.
Using tongs, hold the chops on their fat edges to crisp up the fat.
Transfer the lamb chops to a board or serving platter and leave to rest for a few minutes. Spoon a generous knob of Gilda butter over each chop and let it melt over the meat.
Serve the lamb chops whole or sliced, with a little extra Gilda butter on top.
To make the smashed cucumber, radish and olive salad, wrap the cucumbers loosely in a clean tea towel and put them on a chopping board. Bash along their length with a rolling pin until they split open.
Remove the tea towel, roughly chop the cucumbers into bite-sized pieces and put them in a colander.
Wrap the radishes in the tea towel and bash them with the rolling pin. Roughly chop and add to the colander with the cucumbers.
Sprinkle over 1 tsp sea salt flakes or ½ tsp fine sea salt and toss together. Leave the colander in the sink for 20 minutes to allow any excess liquid to drain away, tossing once or twice.
Squeeze the lemon juice into a large mixing bowl and stir in the caster sugar. Season generously with black pepper, then whisk in the extra virgin olive oil.
Give the cucumber and radishes a final toss and discard any excess liquid. Add them to the dressing along with the olives and toss to coat.
Stir through the chopped herbs and Aleppo pepper. Serve alongside the lamb chops.
