While hanging around the frozen meats section at Tesco I spotted a whole stack of frozen lamb legs. It took me quite a few grocery shopping trips after that before I finally picked one up; aside from that one time making lamb Mandy, I’ve never really handled lamb before so I was really curious to try.
The recipe I tried was by Jamie Oliver. I took too long to prep the potatoes and left the lamb leg roasting on its own for a good 40 minutes, its juices dripping onto an empty roasting tray. After a while the drippings and grease started to smoke, filling the house all the way to the top floor. If I make this again next time, I’ll probably try to get the potatoes in earlier.
Flavor-wise the lamb was nice, and the mint sauce was absolutely lovely. After making my own mint sauce using fresh leaves, I don’t think I’ll ever go back to the store-bought ones. Be sure to carve out thinner slices; thick slices might come out a bit tough. Overall this did not disappoint, but I think for my next roast lamb project I’ll be trying other recipes.
Roast Leg of Lamb
Ingredients
- 1 bulb garlic, 3 cloves peeled and crushed, the others left whole
1 small bunch fresh rosemary, half the leaves removed and coarsely chopped, half in sprigs- 1 lemon, zested
- olive oil
- 1 (2-kilogram) leg of lamb
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1.5 kilograms russet potatoes, peeled and cut in half
- 1 carrot, cut into chunks
- 4 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 pinches salt
- 1 tablespoon hot water
- 3 tablespoons wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
Ingredients
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C, and place a roasting tray for the potatoes on the bottom.
Place the potatoes in a large pot, and add enough water to cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
While boiling the potatoes, mix the crushed garlic, chopped rosemary, lemon zest and olive oil together. Season the lamb with salt and pepper and rub the marinade into it. Place on the hot bars of the oven above the tray.
When the potatoes are done, remove from heat and drain. Add the rosemary sprigs, carrots and whole garlic cloves, season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with a good amount of olive oil. Tip the potatoes into the roasting tray, and place the tray under the lamb to catch all the lovely juices.
Make the mint sauce. In a small bowl, add the chopped mint, sugar, salt, hot water and wine vinegar. Stir to combine.
Cook the lamb for about 1 hour and 15 minutes if you want it pink, 
or an hour and a half if you want it more well done. Remove from the oven, cover with tinfoil and leave for 15 minutes before serving. Carve into thin slices, and serve with the potatoes and mint sauce.
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