With all the excitement of the Olympics you might have missed the news that last week was National Allotment Week – running from 6th – 12th August it is a week of celebrations throughout the UK to highlight the allotment movement and raise the awareness of growing your own food.

What you also might not know is that here at Urban Splash we have not one but two sets of allotments – at our development Saxton in Leeds and also at Lakeshore in Bristol, with 193 plots between them we are for the first time offering our residents
a chance to “Grow their Own”.

So to celebrate allotment week and the hard work of our allotment holding residents we turned our allotments at Saxton into
a Zero Food Miles pop up restaurant.

The tables were set, the sun was shining and our friends from Sam’s Chop House came down to use the alfresco kitchen we had provided. Over two sittings Lunch and Dinner (or dinner and tea as we call them here in Yorkshire) 20 of our residents were treated to a plate of finest Yorkshire fayre cooked in front of them using produce picked from within feet of them!

If you fancy trying the meal for yourself here’s the recipe:

Sam’s Chop House Roasted Rump of Lamb
Roasted rump of lamb served with crushed new potatoes, orange glazed carrots, mint & redcurrant sauce

Serves 2

2 x 7-8oz lamb rumps, trimmed
20g fresh thyme & rosemary
150g new potatoes
20g chives
150g Chantenay carrots
100g butter
200ml fresh orange juice
200ml gravy
1tbsp red currant jelly
20g fresh mint

Season the lamb rumps with salt & pepper, and seal on all sides in a hot pan. Roughly chop the thyme & rosemary, add to the pan with the lamb rumps & roast in a 200ºC oven for 9-10 minutes. Leave to rest for 5 minutes before carving

Boil the new potatoes in salted water until just cooked, then mix with 25g of butter & chopped herbs & crush with a fork. Season well with salt & pepper. Put the carrots in a pan with the remaining butter & orange juice, cover with a piece of greaseproof paper & cook over a high heat until all the liquid has been absorbed & the carrots are soft & glazed.

Sauce

Mix the redcurrant jelly & chopped mint with the gravy & heat gently.

To serve

Press the crushed potatoes into a ring, carve the lamb rump & serve with the carrots & sauce.

Rob Higgins, head chef at Sam’s Chop House said: ”Having allotments for residents is a great idea and something I’ve not seen before. As a chef and somebody who is passionate about organic produce, this would definitely appeal to me if I was looking to buy a place in the city centre. Cooking with food grown at home gives you a sense of pride and it’s often more flavoursome.”

If you live at Saxton or Lakeshore and are interested in taking an allotment contact Rachel Maren at rachelmaren@urbansplash.co.uk. Still not sure? Check out Facebook for more pictures of the event and pictures of what our residents have been growing.