Lamb neck fillet is one of the tastiest cuts of lamb, because it is well marbled and has a lot of connective tissue. As the neck has the job of holding the lamb’s neck up, you can imagine it is a muscle that gets a lot of exercise and thus flavor. This usually means that lamb neck fillet is used for stews or dishes like pulled lamb, and it is indeed perfect for that. But with sous-vide we can also cook it 24 hours at 57C/135F such that it is medium rare, tender and very juicy. It will be like an expensive lamb loin, but cheaper and with more taste.
Notice all he nice marbling? This intramuscular fat will make sure the meat will be flavorful and succulent.
Season the neck fillets with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and vacuum seal them.
Because we will be cooking for a long time below 60C/140F, it is important to dip the lamb in boiling water after vacuum sealing to kill any lactobacillus. If you don’t do this, the lamb may develop an unpleasant smell.
About 30 seconds in boiling water is enough, just long enough for the lamb to lose its raw color.
Take it out of the boiling water, and cook it sous-vide for 24 hours at 57C/135F.
After 24 hours juices that have been squeezed out of the lamb will have collected in the bag.
Pour those juices into a small bowl.
Nuke those juices in the microwave for about 30 seconds, or until the proteins coagulate.
Pat the lamb dry with paper towels. This is important for good browning.
Brown the lamb on all sides in a frying pan with vegetable oil, clarified butter, or rendered lamb fat over high heat.
Turn off the heat and take the lamb out of the pan. Pour the nuked juices through a fine sieve.
Allow the juices to reduce over medium heat.
Slice the lamb if you like, because it looks pretty. Serve with the reduced juices.
24 hours seems like a long time, but it is worth it. And you don’t have to do anything during those 24 hours. The actual active time to make this delicious lamb is less than 15 minutes.
Stefan's Gourmet Blog 
Well, off to the butcher for a heart-to-heart again! I know how good the neck meat tastes ’cause when we were poor immigrants and I a child we often had it on the table and it was a favourite meal . . . however in this country the butchers always presented it as ‘neck chops’ and I have as idea that it may not even be on sale at supermarket butchers these days as many cuts such as this have simply disappeared . . . . never mind about it being presented as a fillet . . .
LikeLiked by 2 people
Nice. It looks so much like a Coppa, which i guess it sort of close to that cut but much smaller. I wonder if you can cure those in a similar way. Lamb Coppa…sounds good.
LikeLiked by 2 people
It does sound good and I don’t see why you shouldn’t be able to cure it. I guess a lamb is usually eaten whole because it is so much smaller than a pig.
LikeLike
Senza dubbio durante le 24 ore devi preparare qualcosa da mangiare in attesa di questa delizia 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Great recipe. Now, if I could only find some neck of lamb….
LikeLiked by 1 person
You could find goat. I’m sure there will be a great story in your quest for neck of lamb.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Do you remove bone before cooking sous vide?
LikeLike
In this case the bone was already removed, but you could leave it in as it will be easier to remove after cooking sous vide.
LikeLike
If lamb neck is cooked on the bone sous vide, should the cooking time suggested above be increased?
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is not necessary as the cooking time is so long that one hour more or less does not make a noticeable difference.
LikeLike