Lamb with Roasted Carrots, Whipped Feta & Herbs

Ingredients

• 600g lamb rump steaks
• 800g carrots, peeled and halved lengthways
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp runny honey
• 1 orange, zested and juiced
• 180g feta
• 120g Greek yogurt
• 1 garlic clove, grated
• 15g mint, roughly chopped
• 15g dill, roughly chopped
• 30g pistachios, roughly chopped
• salt and black pepper to taste
• Crusty sourdough bread, to serve
• Dressed green salad, to serve
• Warm flatbreads, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oven to 220°C fan. Toss the carrots on a large tray with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the cumin, honey, orange zest, and a generous pinch of salt and black pepper — make sure they sit in a single layer with space around them, or they'll steam instead of caramelising. The cumin needs the hot oil and oven heat to bloom; raw ground spice tastes dusty, toasted spice tastes of itself.
2. Roast the carrots for 30 to 35 minutes, turning once halfway, until tender through and properly caught at the edges — you want deep amber, not pale.
3. While the carrots roast, rub the lamb with the remaining olive oil, a splash of the orange juice, and season generously with salt and black pepper. Leave it to sit at room temperature — cold lamb straight from the fridge seizes up in the pan and won't take colour evenly.
4. For the whipped feta, blend the feta with the yoghurt and grated garlic until smooth and spoonable — creamy and sharp, more sauce than crumble. Use the garlic raw and grated fine; it mellows into the feta as it sits, so you don't need to cook it, and there's no risk of burning it bitter.
5. Heat a heavy frying pan or griddle over high heat until properly smoking — this is the moment that decides whether you get a crust or a grey edge. Cook the lamb in two goes if your pan is small; crowd it and the steam from one steak ruins the sear on the next. 3 to 4 minutes each side gives you blushing pink at the centre; a minute longer if you prefer it more done. Rest the lamb on a board for a full 5 minutes — the juices need to settle back into the meat or they'll end up on the platter.
6. As the carrots come out of the oven, squeeze of orange juice straight over the hot tray — it lifts the sweet-savoury edge and stops the dish tasting one-note.
7. Taste the whipped feta and adjust — feta varies wildly in saltiness, so season now, not at the table.
8. Spread the whipped feta across a large serving platter in a thick pale slick. Pile the orange-glazed carrots on top, slice the rested lamb across the grain, and lay it over everything so the pink juices run down into the feta. Scatter generously with the chopped mint, dill, and pistachios, and bring the warm flatbreads to the table for scooping.