Balsamic Glazed Oven Baked Lamb Steaks

It seems my last few posts (yes, I know the last one was quite a long time ago now) have started with apologies, and following suit I must once again apologise for failing miserably to keep up with this bad boy recently. I can blame many things (moving, new flat having a kitchen that makes me genuinely angry, new job etc.  but really, I just haven’t been very inventive in the kitchen recently. Well, hopefully that is all going to change. I am now settled in the new flat (though there is still so much to do, is adulthood really just a never ending to do list?!), I'm nearly 100% decided on the new kitchen design and I have finally been inspired again!

I'm not sure if I have mentioned but I joined a lovely scheme called foodie pen pals recently. Each month I send and receive a parcel of food related goodies to another blogger/blog reader (if you are interested have a look here). I'm supposed to have written blog posts about each month’s parcel but due to my own disorganisation and late arrivals I haven’t been very good about this either but I shall put a stop to that too! Before it’s too late, I’ll tell you a little about my October parcel. It was a box of dark chocolate deliciousness from Lucy (you can read her blog here) and I can’t thank her enough! 

She’s also reminded me how good the 'raw choc' range of healthy treats is. For anybody with any allergy issues these are like heaven! Little chunks of rich chocolaty goodness that are milk/gluten/sugar free and you only need a small amount to satisfy that sweet craving. I haven’t tucked into everything yet  but my treats cupboard is well and truly happy, thank you so much Lucy!

So, back to the recipe in question. This is a fairly hands off dish and with veg and meat cooked in one pot, it also makes for easy washing up. I served it with an oven baked vegetable pilaf (recipe to follow) though if you double up on the veg (or perhaps just adding a beetroot or two, I think they would work wonderfully in this) you can cut the carbs altogether.

Ingredients

2 lamb steaks

2 tomatoes

2 carrots

2 large/4 small red onions

5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons honey

1 clove garlic

1-2 sprigs rosemary

1 teaspoon dried orgeno

Small handful mint

Small handful parsley

Salt/pepper

Extra virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 180, Roughly chop the carrots and onions.

Place in an ovenproof dish with a good glug of oil, 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, the oregano and some salt and pepper. Put this in the oven.

Make the marinade with the rest of the ingredients and pour over the lamb (for optimum results do this the night before).

After about 30 minutes (when the carrots and onions are starting to turn) add the tomatoes (cut in half and skin side down). To really bring out the flavour of the tomatoes (and this is a must if your tomatoes aren't perfectly ripe) sprinkle a small pinch of brown sugar over each half.

Put back in the oven and once the tomatoes are blackening on top (after about another 20 minutes) add the lamb steaks and cook for a further 10-15 minutes (depending how large the steaks are and how pink you like them).