ROSEMARY ROASTED LAMB & POTATOES
Ingredients
Scotch leg of lamb weighing 1.8kg (4lb)
2 stems fresh rosemary
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 baking potatoes about 1.4kg (3lb), peeled
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
15ml/1tbsp olive oil
450ml/¾pt lamb stock
First, preheat the oven to 190°C/Fan 170°C/375°F/Gas Mark 5. Place your Scotch leg of lamb on a board and use a small sharp knife to make incisions in the lamb. Cut small sprigs of rosemary and pop into each hole. If your lamb begins to look like a green hedgehog then you’re winning.
Working with a raw joint isn’t always the nicest thing to do in the kitchen, but this is actually quite a lovely task; dotting the pretty sprigs over the joint with as much or as little creative flare as you fancy.
Then, peel the potatoes and cut them into slices about £1 coin thick. Peeling potatoes is another task that I find oddly therapeutic, just sitting at the kitchen table peeling away, listening to the radio (I will not confess what I was listening to).
Once I was out of my peeling daydream, I sliced an onion and 2 garlic cloves and popped them all in a large roasting tin. Season well and toss together. Shimmy the dish around a bit to level the surface. Then pour over the stock and drizzle with a little oil.
Place the mighty leg on top of the potatoes.
Tuck it all in loosely with tinfoil and roast for 1 hour. After an hour, your entire home will smell like an alpine forest, with the lush rosemary aroma wafting through the house. That’s your cue to take the tinfoil off and roast the lamb for a further 40 mins, that’ll allow the lamb and potatoes to go lovely and brown.
This is the bit I love. My friend was watching the oven like a kid up at the TV screen. I had to bat her away with a tea towel (whilst trying not to feel guilty about how easy the prep was). But that’s the joy of this recipe, the reward is far greater than the effort invested.
Now, I know some might think a leg of lamb is a tad extravagant for a meal for two but just think what I can do with the leftovers? Now that does give me something delicious to ponder.