Hogget has, over the past few years, been seen with increasing frequency on menus across the country over the past few years.
It is an unfortunate, ugly word for what is rather beautiful-tasting meat. It refers to sheep that have aged between one and two years; the flavour is more pronounced than delicate lamb, but gentler than mutton. British hogget is also far more seasonally apt for Easter than British lamb, too, making it an ideal choice for a big Easter lunch. Here, Tommy Banks, perhaps best known for the Michelin-starred Black Swan at Oldstead, shares his recipe for roasted hogget meatballs with a St George’s mushroom sauce.
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
For the meatballs
- 600g minced hogget
- 60g dried prunes
- 40g breadcrumbs
- 1/2 medium onion, chopped
- 1tbsp garlic, crushed
- 1tsp black pepper, ground
- 1tsp sea salt
- 1tsp mace
For the sauce
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 bouquet garni
- 200g St. George’s mushrooms, halved
- 100ml white wine, medium-sweet
- 200ml lamb stock
- 500ml double cream
Method
Method:
- Pre-heat oven to 200ºC (180ºC Fan).
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all meatball ingredients. Using your hands, mix all the ingredients together really well until everything is nicely combined.
- Divide the mixture into 16-18 golf ball sized balls.
- In a medium pan over a medium heat, add your meatballs and brown until golden then remove from pan and set aside. This should take about 8 minutes and may need to be done in batches.
- Add 1tbsp sunflower oil to the same pan. Add onions, garlic and mushrooms to the pan and cook until beginning to caramelise, about 10 minutes.
- Add white wine to the pan, allow to bubble and reduce for two minutes.
- Add lamb stock to the pan and allow to reduce for five minutes. Then add cream. Stir vigorously to fully incorporate and remove from the heat.
- Place meatballs in an ovenproof dish and cover with the cream sauce. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
- Serve with freshly toasted sourdough.
Tommy Banks the chef-patron of The Black Swan at Oldstead, Roots in York, and The Abbey Inn at Byland; tommybanks.co.uk
