Roast Leg of Lamb

I do enjoy a Sunday roast, but one that’s done well – succulent meat in a delicious marinade, roast potatoes with a fluffy coat of golden crisp, and crunchy vegetables to garnish in a rich gravy.

With Christmas around the corner I don’t like to make a roast with all the bells and whistles. I don’t want to ruin the excitement over the grand feast on Christmas day and if you’re anything like my family, looking forward to the food completely out weighs the opening of presents..possibly because we’ve come to the unfortunate terms of being adults and the novelty’s worn off. Not much is alluring about sitting around a tree of shedding needles in a dark room because we must “appreciate” the inoffensive fairy lights, whilst you lean in for a whole hearted hug over those new socks followed by an oh so dramatic..

Thank you, I LOVE them!!!!

For me, there’s something far more special to look forward to; like sitting around the dinner table on Christmas day with your loved ones sharing a wonderful meal and conversations over old memories, with a fork in one hand and a glass of wine in the other – I just love how food brings people together, whether its served on a paper plate or fine china its one of the rare occasions that time stands still and binds us together in unity and love.

So, I spent this afternoon practicing one of the many meats I’ll be cooking at Christmas. Today will be a simple roast for two using the most naturally flavoursome and fragrant meat, lamb;

Roast Leg of Lamb 

Roast Leg of Lamb

– Pre heat oven to 180 c –

Organic leg of lamb rubbed in sea salt (tbsp) and black pepper (tsp)

Pierce the lamb evenly at the top, bottom and side creating a tiny pocket to slot in cloves of garlic and fresh rosemary (I’ve used lemon rosemary from the garden for this)

Marinade;

Dijon mustard (tbsp)

Organic honey (tbsp)

Soy sauce (tsp)

Lemon juice (tbsp)

Wisk together and voila, you have a delicious marinade to smother over your lamb.

TIP – taste the marinade as you go – I don’t use specific measurements. Sometimes I want the meat to taste saltier, sweeter, punchier..this all depends on you and your taste buds, there are no rules!

Place the lamb into the oven. Cooking time will depend on how heavy your meat is (usually 7mins per 100g) and how you like your meat cooked. The lamb I used was 1.5 kg and I like my red meat cooked medium rare, I achieved this with 50 mins in the oven.

So there you have it, a caramalised, punchy, succulent joint of roast lamb!

Crack open a bottle of red wine, enjoy and happy Sunday!