I love lamb. And no, I’m not just naming things in the room.

Lamb is widely available and popular in the UK. What’s more, being farmed here, it’s fresh and good quality (i.e., not necessary to buy in from New Zealand and in doing so clock up food miles).

My friend Claire recently shared her own lamb recipe with lentils. I’m planning to try this soon, as my other half and I have decided to try eating more legumes this year. He read in Tim Ferriss’s The Four Hour Body that they are good sources of protein, and that protein is a more filling source of calories than other foods, so you eat less (Tim’s pretty cool; we saw him talk about his new book, The Four Hour Chef, last night in Piccadilly — can’t wait to read it). We’re both trying to slim down for the big day this summer, but don’t want to sacrifice flavoursome foods to do so.

I like to put lamb in curries, such as red Thai curry or an Indian rogan josh. I also love lamb tagine (I love fruit curries!). But not long ago, I found I had an excess of fresh thyme at home, and I found a marvellously simple recipe from a proper British chef who was able to help me solve this quandary.

Lamb can often be a bit fatty and heavy, and I found the lemon in this dish really lightened it up. Gremolata is an Milanese mix of lemon, parsley and garlic, and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall here substitutes thyme for parsley.

Lamb cutlets with thyme gremolata (serves 2)

Zest of 1 lemon

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped

1 Tbsp lemon juice

2 Tbsp olive oil

6 lamb cutlets

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Mix the zest, garlic and thyme in a bowl to make gremolata; set aside half for garnish, then add lemon juice and olive oil.

Coat the cutlets in the mixture and marinate for 30 minutes.

Heat a frying pan. Add lamb cutlets and season with salt and pepper. Cook 2-3 minutes on each side.

Transfer cutlets to a plate to rest, then serve topped with the rest of the gremolata.

Enjoy!