Warm lamb pasta salad

Ingredients

500 g lamb eye of shortloin/backspaps

375 g penne pasta

100 g baby spinach leaves

150 g kalamata olives

250 g punnet cherry tomatoes, halved

1 small red onion, cut into thin wedges

0.25 cup French salad dressing

Lightly brush the lamb with a little oil. Season with salt and pepper
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta until just tender. Drain pasta and set aside
While the pasta is cooking, heat a non-stick frypan until moderately-hot, add the lamb. Cook lamb until browned on all sides. Reduce the heat to moderate and cook a further 5 minutes or until cooked to desired doneness
Remove lamb, cover loosely with foil and rest lamb for 2 minutes. Slice lamb thinly on the diagonal. Place the pasta in a large bowl and stir in the spinach, olives, tomatoes, onion, salad dressing and lamb slices

Take the lamb from the fridge a few minutes before cooking. If the meat is chilled the rate of cooking will be slowed down. As this is a quick cooking method the end result will be better if meat is at room temperature before cooking. Take it from the fridge about 10 minutes before you cook (no longer)
Test lamb chops or cutlets for doneness with the back of your tongs. Rare is soft when pressed, medium is ‘springy' and well done is very firm. Rest the meat for a few minutes before serving
Best lamb cuts for pan-frying; eye of loin/backsliap, tenderloin/fillet, loin chops, cutlets, lamb steaks (round or topside)