Slow-Roasted Lamb with Rosemary, Garlic & Red Wine & Rosemary Roasted Roots
From Ainsley’s Food We Love, ITV
This is so quick and simple to prepare and great for a lazy Sunday – pop it into the oven and in a few hours’ time you have the tastiest lunch or dinner. Great for leftovers too!
Method
For the Lamb
Preheat the oven to 220C/200Cfan/Gas 7
Using a sharp knife, make about 12-16 incisions about an inch deep in the lamb flesh. Using your finger, push the garlic pieces down into the cuts then poke an anchovy half and a sprig of rosemary into each hole. Continue until all the incisions are filled with garlic, rosemary and anchovy.
Place the lamb into a roasting tray, grate over some zest of the lemon and massage into the flesh. Season well with salt and pepper and drizzle with a little oil. Pour the wine and stock into the tray around the lamb.
Put into the oven for 20 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 130C fan. Roast for 4-4 ½ hours, basting every so often with the pan juices and adding a little more liquid to the tray if it looks a little dry (wine or stock).
The lamb is ready when it is just falling off the bone. Remove from the oven, cover and rest for about 30 minutes before serving.
To make a gravy, place the roasting tin over a low heat and carefully skim off any excess fat if necessary. Add a knob of butter and 1-2 tbsp of plain flour and bring to the boil while stirring. Stir until it begins to thicken and add stock while stirring until you have the consistency you are looking for. Season to taste and add chopped fresh herbs if you like. Strain before serving.
For the Roots
Put the vegetables into a large roasting tray, drizzle with good glug of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Add the rosemary to the tray. Put the vegetables in the oven during the last half hour of the lamb cooking then when the lamb is removed give the vegetables a shake, turn the oven temperature up to 200C/180Cfan and roast ,while the lamb is resting, for a further 20-30 minutes until cooked to your liking.
Quick tip: to stop the beetroot colour bleeding into your other vegetables use foil to create a separate area for them to sit in the tray.
Ingredients
- For the Slow-Roasted Lamb
- 3 sprigs of rosemary, picked into smaller sprigs
- 6 cloves of garlic, peeled, cut into 2-3 thick slices
- large leg of lamb (approx. 1.8kg)
- 6-8 good quality anchovy fillets, cut in half
- 1 lemon, for zesting
- olive oil, for drizzling
- 200ml red wine
- 300ml chicken or vegetable stock, plus extra if needed
- sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
- For the Rosemary Roasted Roots
- 6 large carrots, peeled and quartered
- 4 parsnips, peeled and halved lengthways
- 4 beetroot, scrubbed and cut into wedges
- 1 red onion, cut into 8 wedges
- olive oil
- 2 sprigs of rosemary