Meat mains
Slow roast leg of lamb
Slow roasted, melt-in-your-mouth lamb. Start by taking the joint out of the fridge and bringing it up to room temperature before putting in the oven - 30 minutes should do the trick. Eat with roast potatoes and mint sauce for a traditional Sunday dinner.
Ingredients
For the lamb
- 1.8kg leg of lamb
- small sprigs rosemary
- a few garlic cloves, left whole
- salt and pepper
For the gravy
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 200ml red wine
- 1 tsp redcurrant jelly
- 300ml stock
For the mint sauce
- large handful fresh mint, leaves chopped
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
Method
main
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Step 1
Preheat oven to 150°C/Gas 2.
Prepare the lamb
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Step 1
Cut several slits in the skin of the lamb, just large enough to poke in a clove of garlic and a small piece of rosemary in each. Season the lamb well with salt and pepper.
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Step 2
Place the prepared lamb in a snug fitting roasting pan and cover with foil. Roast for 3½ hours, basting every 30 minutes. Remove the foil and roast for another 30 minutes to brown the skin a little.
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Step 3
Slow roasting doesn't require the meat to be rested at the end as it will be very tender and will shred apart with a fork. It will shrink up as it cooks, so if you're serving more than 6 or want leftovers, you might want to stick to the traditional roasting method.
For the gravy
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Step 1
Once the lamb is removed from the pan, skim off most of the fat from the remaining juices. Place the pan on the hob (make sure it's a flameproof pan, or decant the juices into one) and stir in the flour. Stir for a couple of minutes to cook the flour. Add the wine and redcurrant jelly. Stir for 1 minute, then add the stock. Simmer for a few minutes.
For the mint sauce
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Step 1
Put the mint in a heatproof bowl with the sugar and 2 tablespoons of boiling water. Leave to cool, then stir in the white wine vinegar. Leave to steep for an hour or so if you can.