Lamb fillet with quails’ eggs and spring leaves
Bring a taste of Italian springtime to your table with Gennaro Contaldo’s ‘agnello con uova di quaglie’.
Ingredients
For the salad
- 2 celery stalks, sliced lengthways into small julienne strips
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú green beans, cut into quarters
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú young spinach leaves, washed
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú rocket leaves, washed
- 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- salt and freshly ground pepper
For the lamb fillets and quails’ eggs
Method
To make the salad, put the celery stalks in a bowl of cold water until they curl up. Cook the green beans in a pan of boiling, salted water for 2–3 minutes until tender, then drain.
Combine the cooked green beans, spinach, rocket and celery in a bowl, season with salt and pepper and toss well with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Set aside.
To make the lamb fillet and quails’ eggs, season the lamb with salt and pepper. Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the garlic and thyme and allow the aromatics to infuse the oil.
Fry the lamb fillet for about 3 minutes on each side to have it medium-rare, and add another minute for medium. When the lamb is cooked to your liking, remove and rest until ready to serve.
Empty the frying pan out, and melt the butter in the pan over a medium heat. Fry the quails’ eggs until they're just set, but with a runny yolk.
To serve, slice the lamb fillet, and arrange on a platter or individual serving plates, with the salad and quails' eggs. Serve immediately.
