Mint and lamb marry well together in this simply pasta dish. Finish with a fruity dessert for a refreshing spring meal.

Ingredients

• 1 tsp minced garlic
• ½ tsp each ground black pepper and salt
• 2 lamb striploins (see Variations)
• Pasta for 4 (see Cook’s Tips)
• 400 gram can flavoured tomatoes (see Cook’s Tips)
• 2 avocados, halved and stoned
• ¼ - ½ cup semidried tomatoes, chopped
• ½ cup pistachio nuts, toasted (optional)
• ¼ cup finely chopped fresh mint

Method

1. Mix the olive oil, garlic, pepper, salt and lamb together in a resealable bag or toss in a dish. Seal or cover and leave to marinate for 30 minutes.
2. Cook the lamb in a hot frying pan for about 8-10 minutes, turning regularly to brown and cook evenly without burning. Alternatively, brown the lamb quickly and transfer to a 180 degrees Celsius oven for 12-15 minutes. Transfer lamb to a plate and allow to rest for 5 minutes before carving thinly.
3. Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water for 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain well and return to the saucepan.
4. Add the tomatoes and heat through the pasta over a low heat. Gently toss in the sliced lamb, diced or sliced avocado, semi-dried tomatoes, pistachio nuts if using and mint leaves. Season well with pepper. Serve soon after making

Cooks Tips

For this spring pasta meal use any of the following flavoured tomatoes, they are all tasty and keeping a couple of cans on hand means you have an instant sauce for pasta. Try Savoury Tomatoes, Mexican Spiced Tomatoes, Italian Seasoned tomatoes, Sweet Chilli Style Tomatoes • Allow about 100 grams of dried pasta for 4. • Striploin is from the eye of the loin. It is flat-log shaped, tender and fine textured. Variation Use lamb fillets in place of the striploin. Trim them to remove the silverskin as this will twist when cooking and cause the lamb to toughen. They take about 4 minutes to cook in a hot pan. Allow about 1½ -2 per person. Look for the Quality Mark logo when buying lamb.