Celebrity chef Marco Pierre White chose Somerset as the place in which to relaunch his first cookbook, so while he was around we asked him to share a recipe with our readers

Marco Pierre White is perhaps one of the best known chefs in the country. After leaving Allerton High School in Leeds without any qualifications, he decided to train as a chef. He began his training in the kitchen at the Hotel St George in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, and later at the Box Tree in Ilkley, West Yorkshire.

At 24 he became Head Chef and joint owner of Harveys with a kitchen staff that included the young Gordon Ramsay. At 33 he became the youngest chef to be awarded three Michelin stars.

Marco has since gone on to open several top class restaurants, write several cookbooks and appear on several television programmes.

White Heat, one cookbook, was originally produced in 1990. With its unique blend of outspoken opinion, recipes, and dramatic photographs, White Heat captures the magic and spirit of Marco Pierre White in the heat of his kitchen.

Marco chose to relaunch the book at Cadbury House in Congresbury where he has a restaurant, so while we had his attention we asked him to share the recipes over the page with us.

Lamb Dijonnaise

This is an easy, colourful main course, but please allow time for the meat to rest so that it is perfect.

Serves two

Ingredients:

• Two rumps of lamb each weighing approx 280g

• Extra virgin olive oil (or clarified butter/ghee)

• Dijon mustard to your taste

• A handful of fresh chives diced to the size of small beads

• Chives or fresh herbs of your choice

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 170?C. Heat the olive oil or butter in a frying pan and caramelize the lamb for a couple of minutes on both sides, turning once.

2. Transfer the lamb to a roasting tin, skin-side down. Pop it in the oven and roast for 10 minutes.

3. Remove the lamb from the oven and allow the meat to rest for at least five minutes, but don’t discard the roasting juices.

4. Cover the lamb with the mustard and diced chives – they’ll stick to the Dijon. Give it a drizzle of olive oil.

5. On a chopping board, slice each piece of rested rump into two. Place the slices in the pan.

6. Scatter with long strips of chive and serve in the pan.