Roasted Marrow Bones and Parsley Salad (Recipe)

Here's a quick and dirty one.

One of my little pleasures in life is to suck the marrow out of a bone. Osso bucco, lamb shanks, even chicken bones all have chunks of wobbly, meaty goodness to release for my delectation and, as far as I'm concerned, it's as delicious as foie gras without the guilt.

I'd noticed that Selfridges had some sliced veal bones in its Food Hall, so I schlepped over to pick up a kilo, as well as some chicken hearts and gizzards. To be honest, it gave me a bit of a thrill to be walking around chi-chi Selfridges carrying what my Fallout-playing husband would call a "gorebag".

Anyway, I also got me a loaf of sourdough and a bunch of parsley to construct a celebrated Fergus Henderson recipe - and a death row meal for Anthony Bourdain no less.

Here's my take - serves a greedy two. Note that you'll need a long thin implement to extract the marrow if the bones haven't been sliced vertically (espresso spoons work well - can someone buy me these please?)

Roasted Marrow Bones and Parsley Salad

• Bag of bones (okay, a kilo of trimmed veal bones)
• Bunch of flatleaf parsley
• 2 shallots, finely sliced
• 8 capers, minced
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp virgin olive oil
• Loaf of sourdough bread
• Coarse sea salt or salt flakes (I use Maldon)

Place a sheet of foil on a baking tray and then prop the bones on the tray, marrow facing upwards if they've been cut in half, or else upright on their ends. Season lightly with a bit of salt and pepper.

Roast the bones at 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 5 for about 15 minutes, but keep checking every few minutes because the marrow may just melt away if you're not careful ...

Meanwhile, pick the parsley leaves off the stems and chop roughly. Place in a salad bowl with the sliced shallots.

Make the dressing by whisking the olive oil, lemon juice, and capers together and add a little salt and pepper.

When the bones are almost ready, slice the sourdough bread and toast lightly. Toss the dressing with the parsley and shallots.

Sprinkle the sea salt on the roasted marrow, serve with toast and parsley salad and enjoy!