Roast Leg of Half Price Lamb

To very precise about this dish, the boyfriend cooked this leg of lamb. I prepared it, marinaded it and served it, but he cooked it. I had been on an increasingly rare (for good reason, is it just me or is the hangover getting more vicious every year?) night out and was completely incapable of removing my fake-tanned backside out of bed to be home early enough to put it on to roast. So three text messages and four calls later, the OH had put it in the oven.

And to be fair to him, it came out absolutely delicious, with just the right combination of crispy skin, succulent meat and tender interior.  He even photographed it for me! By the time I made it home, sore head and all, all I had to do was stick the sides on and read the Sunday Times. Thank you, darling boyfriend, you’re a star xx

• Leg of lamb (about 1.5kg)
• 8 garlic cloves, halfed lengthways
• 2 cups red wine + 1 glug olive oil + 1tsp cornflour / Bisto
• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary + 1 sprig thyme + 1 tsp black pepper
• Sides – roasties / veg etc.

1. Cut small slits into the leg of lamb and slot garlic and rosemary into each pocket. It doesn’t have to be fancy, just make sure they’re jammed in.
2. Pop into small deep dish, add pepper and thyme, and pour red wine over. Marinade overnight, turning once.
3. On day of cooking, pre-heat oven to 220C.  Rub lamb with oil and pop entire dish, marinade and all, into the oven, roasting for about one hour.  (I roasted my veg and potatoes in a separate dish underneath)
4. Remove lamb and lift out of the marinading dish. Cover lightly with foil and set aside to rest for about ten minutes.
5. You can now use the remainder of the marinade and lamb juices to make a gravy.  Fill half a cup with the mixture, and add a teaspoon of cornflour (or Bisto if you’re really attached to the taste), stirring until the mix is smooth. Pour back into the mixture and heat slowly, stirring continuously.
6. Serve lamb sliced (should be pink in the middle) with roasted vegetables and potatoes and a generous portion of gravy. Nyum.

Cheats:

Potatoes: Given my delicate state, I picked up a bag of frozen roasties in Tesco. They were crispy, delicious and best of all, involved no peeling, boiling, tossing and roasting. Best €3.49 I’ve ever spent.

Mint Sauce: Obviously a great accompaniment to this dish is mint sauce.  It was however, well beyond my capabilities that day.

Accompaniments: Oh, p.s., I had some left over proscuitto and some frozen stuffing, so as an afterthought I made ham-wrapped stuffing balls. And then promptly forgot about them, hence the ‘well-done’ look. Probably the sixth glass of wine the night before that did it.