Enough of stews , casseroles and slow cooking, let’s lift our spirits with colour and flavour with this delicious dish of Mediterranean vegetables and good quality olive oil.

Succulent lamb chops roasted briefly to medium rare and served with slim, pointed ramiro peppers that have been stuffed with a mixture of aubergine, goat’s cheese and herbs. Add to that some roasted companions, cloves of garlic and mini vine tomatoes, all browned in the best olive oil you possess, and you have a culinary glimpse of warmer days to come.

Ingredients - serves 4 8 lamb chops, rolled and tied 8 plump cloves of garlic 4 tbsp good olive oil 2 tsp balsamic vinegar 4 ramiro peppers 1 red onion, peeled & finely chopped 1 clove garlic, crushed & finely chopped 1 aubergine, finely diced 150g baby plum vine tomatoes 1 Capricorn goat’s cheese, finely diced 25g fresh breadcrumbs 2 tbsp finely chopped flat leaf parsley 1 tbsp chopped basil salt, pepper

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 220°C
Cut the top 1 cm with stalk off the peppers (reserve) and tease out the seeds, set aside ready to be stuffed. Put half the olive oil in a frying pan and cook the onion gently to soften, now scatter in the diced aubergine, season, and turn up the heat to medium. Fry, stirring or it will stick, for 5-8 minutes until browned and tender, cool a little then fold in the diced goat’s cheese, chopped herbs plus 1 tsp balsamic and divide the mixture between the peppers. Stuff firmly aided with a teaspoon.

2 Once stuffed, put the lids back on and lay the peppers in a roasting pan together with the whole garlic cloves, drizzle over the remaining olive oil and transfer to the hot oven for 30 minutes or until tinged with colour. Trim the vine tomatoes into 4 neat bundles, leave on the vine and sit amongst oil and peppers for the final 15 minutes of roasting. Sprinkle the remaining balsamic over all as the vegetables leave the oven.

3 Tie the chops with kitchen string to keep them tight and neat, season with salt and pepper. Heat a little oil in a heavy pan and brown them on both sides. Transfer to the top of the oven for 10 minutes then rest for 10 minutes in a warm place.

Serve stuffed pepper, 2 chops, garlic cloves and tomatoes onto individual warmed plates.