Lamb with Romesco sauce

Now the Romesco sauce is a rather thick sauce that is thickened by either bread or ground almonds and flavoured with roasted red pepper. This is a rich and intense sauce so you need some thing rich and intense to go with it. You can add things to it like bacon or I like lamb so here we go

For the braised lamb shank you will need

8 small lamb chops
1 tbsp olive oil
Rosemary
Thyme
1 colevs of garlic.
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the romesco sauce

4 red peppers, grilled whole then peeled and seeds removed
4 tbsp blanched almonds, toasted and ground
Glass of red wine
Glass of chiken stock
Dash red wine vinegar
1 onion finly choppted
2 coves of garlic crushed
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

First take the garlic rosemary and thyme and chop then all together. Use the salt and the edge of a knife to crush this or a mortar and pestle. You are looking to make a paste then add the oil and pepper and rub this all in to your lamb chops. Then cover this and set to one side so that the lamb marinades in the garlic and herbs , the longer the better.

Now to make you sauce you need to take you onion, garlic, and start to fry that in olive oil. Then chop as fine as you can the roasted pepper, all most to a pulp. Add the pepper to the pot and let that all cook down. Now add the red wine and let that reduce by half and a dash of red wine vinegar.

Then add the ground toasted almonds, a little at a time. What you will get is the almonds will work in to the other ingredients and thicken the sauce. Then once the almonds have all worked in and you do not have any big lumps add the chicken stock. Do not use it all but just the right amount to get the sauce to the consistency that you are looking for.

Now take your lamb and char gill them in a griddle pan of on the barbeque. Then serve with the sauce over then lamb or at the side to be dipped in to.