We source our chicken from one farm in Leicestershire. The farm is Pasture for Life certified and rears truly free range, outdoor birds.
Enjoy this wonderful, easy but interesting Manx Loaghtan Lamb Hogget recipe.
The white beans are delicious. They absorb all the flavour and fat from the meat, and like good roasties there are never any left.
The perfect, sumptuous winter warmer!
Ingredients
Serves 4-6
Dried haricot beans 250g
Leg of hogget about 2-2.5kg
4 x fresh rosemary sprigs
4 x garlic cloves
1 x lemon zest
2 x tbsp of olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 x onion
1 bunch x flat-leaf parsley
2 x fresh bay leaves
8 x salted anchovy fillets
1 x large pinch dried chilli flakes
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C fan/gas mark 6.
Put the haricot beans into a bowl, cover with water and soak for 12 hours or overnight.
Remove the hogget from the fridge a couple of hours before you intend to cook it.
Strip the leaves from half the rosemary sprigs and finely chop them.
Take half the garlic, peel and finely chop.
Mix the rosemary, garlic, lemon zest and olive oil together with some salt and pepper, and stir well to combine.
Place the hogget leg in a large, deep roasting tin. Spoon over the rosemary and garlic mixture, and massage it into the meat. Season the hogget all over with salt and pepper, place in the oven and roast for 30 minutes, then turn down the heat to 160C fan/gas mark 4 and continue to cook for the meat for a further 1 hour 15 minutes.
While the hogget is roasting cook the soaked beans. Place them in a pan and cover with plenty of fresh water. Add half the onion, the parsley stalks and the bay leaves, and set over a high heat.
Bring the beans to the boil, turn the heat down to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered for 35-40 minutes, skimming occasionally. They should be nice and tender before you drain the beans. Reserve their cooking liquor.
When the hogget is ready, take it out of the oven and lift out of the roasting tray onto a large plate to rest. Set the roasting tray over a low heat and when the fat is hot, thinly slice the remaining onion and garlic and add it to the tray along with the anchovies, chilli flakes and the remaining rosemary.
Allow everything to sizzle away gently in the fat, stirring it as the onions and anchovies soften – this will also help to encourage any darker, stickier, caramelised bits from the base of the roasting tray to free themselves. Don’t let the onions catch or colour too much.
After 6-8 minutes of cooking add the drained white beans and stir well. Pour in about 500ml of the reserved cooking liquid, bring to a simmer and cook for 10-12 minutes. Take one third of the beans and mix a jug or stick blender before returning them to the tray and stirring well.
Continue to gently cook the beans until they are thick and spoonable. If they become too thick add a dash more cooking liquid. Chop the flat-leaf parsley leaves and add them to the beans along with any resting juices that have accumulated on the plate under the hogget.
Carve the hogget into thin slices and serve alongside the beans.