Lamb Loin Fillets w/ Fennel Compote & Olive Salad
Makes 4 Servings
This recipe is light, bright, and refreshing. Silky sous-vide cooked lamb is served atop a salad of tangy, fruity olives, sweet oranges, creamy/salty feta and finished with rich, sweet fennel compote.
You only need two oranges total for this recipe, but will use the peel, zest, and flesh in different parts of the recipe (as indicated in the ingredient lists below).
INGREDIENTS
- Lamb:
- 6 Lamb Tenderloins
- 4 Fresh Thyme Sprigs
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 2 Two-inch pieces of Orange Peel
- 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 tbsp Unsalted Butter
- ¼ tsp Salt
- Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- Braised Fennel Compote:
- 2 cups medium diced Fennel Bulb
- ¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- ½ tsp Fennel Seeds, roughly chopped
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Honey (we used Acacia Honey)
- ¼ tsp Red Chile Flakes
- 2 Bay Leaves
- Zest from 1 Orange
- ½ cup Vegetable or Chicken Stock
- Orange & Olive Oil Salad:
- 2 Oranges, rind cut off, cut into thin crosswise slices
- ½ cup Taggiasca olives (could substitute other small black Ligurian olive or Casteveltrano green olives)
- ½ cup Israeli or French Feta, crumbled
- 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/4 cup minced Fresh Mint, plus some extra leaves for garnish
- Optional:
- Reserved Fennel Fronds for Garnish
DIRECTIONS
1
Preheat your sous vide water oven (or immersion circulator) to 115° F & your oven to 350° F.
2
Season the tenderloins with salt & pepper. Place tenderloins in 2 bags (3 per bag) along with 2 sprigs of the thyme, a bay leaf, and a piece of orange peel. Vacuum seal the bags.
3
Combine all ingredients for the fennel compote in a cast iron skillet. Heat on the stovetop to a boil, then cover the skillet with a lid or foil and move to the oven to braise.
Braise for 45 minutes, then check the fennel and give it a stir. Continue to cook until the fennel breaks down into a meltingly soft compote (approximately an additional 15 minutes). Remove from the oven & discard the bay leaves.
4
While the fennel is in the oven, put the lamb bags in the sous vide bath, wait for the bath temperature to return to 115, and then cook for an hour.
This will produce lamb that is medium rare. If you prefer your lamb cooked further, increase the water bath temperature – see our sous vide steaks temperature chart for suggestions.
5
Make the salad: Lay the orange slices on a long, thin platter with each one just overlapping the next. Scatter the olives and crumbled feta around the plate, drizzle with the olive oil and garnish with mint.
6
Once they are cooked, remove the tenderloin fillets from their bags. Discard the bay leaves, thyme sprigs and orange peel. Dry the meat off thoroughly & sear it on all sides in a hot, oiled, frying pan – just long enough to brown each side.
7
Slice the seared lamb against the grain. Serve it on the salad or on its own platter with the fennel compote spooned over or alongside it.