Name: Lamb Cracker
Yield: Serves 6-8
Ingredients: 4 oz (125 g) dried pears; 2 tablespoons (2 x 15 ml spoons) sunflower oil; 2 oz (50 g) walnuts, chopped roughly; 2 oz (50 g) butter, plus extra for greasing; 1 lb (500 g) fillo pastry; 13 oz (400 g) can of chopped tomatoes; salt; 6-8 strips orange peel; 2 large garlic cloves; 2 lb (1 kg) lamb neck fillets; 1 teaspoon (5 ml spoon) allspice berries; ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml spoon) cloves; 1 teaspoon (5 ml spoon) juniper berries; 1½ teaspoons (½ x 5 ml spoon) dried green peppercorns

Preparation info

Serves
6-8

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Cooking for Christmas

By Josceline Dimbleby

Published 1978

About

Paper-thin sheets of fillo pastry, which you buy ready to use, can be transformed miraculously into all sorts of impressive creations. At Christmas time what could be more appropriate than a large cracker tie with a bow? This one is filled with an exciting mixture of spiced lamb with pears and walnuts. The cracker can be made well ahead and is perfect for a Christmas dinner party. I serve it with a mixture of steamed carrots and leeks and if possible the yellow-fleshed, waxy new potatoes wh