Roast leg of
lamb, boiled
lemon and herbs
Springtime is always associated
with lamb. At Thyme, we have
our own flock of happy Black
Welsh Mountain sheep. My
personal preference is to use
hogget, a year-old lamb, which
is larger and with a better
fat-to-meat ratio, but obviously
spring lamb is just as much
of a treat. Your butcher can
debone and butterfly the leg,
but it’s easy to do yourself and
there are plenty of instruction
videos online.
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 1 leg of lamb, deboned and
butterflied (to produce about
1kg of meat) - Olive oil
- 3 unwaxed lemons
- 1 bunch of parsley
- 1 bunch of oregano or thyme
- 1 garlic clove
01 Heat the oven to 180C
(200C non-fan).
02 Place a baking dish over a
high heat on the hob. Rub the
lamb with oil so that it is nicely
coated, but not swamped.
Season the inside of the meat
generously with plenty of salt
and cracked pepper. Next
season the pan with plenty
of salt and a little oil. Put the
lamb skin-side down in the pan
and put it in the oven. Set a
timer for 25 min.
03 As the lamb cooks, put two
of the lemons in a pot, cover
them with water and bring to
the boil. Once boiling, drain
the water and repeat the
process twice more.
04 Lift the lemons out of the
pan for the final time and allow
them to cool.05 Chop the herbs and grate
the garlic clove. Put them into
a bowl.06 Quarter the boiled lemons
and cut away all the flesh and
white pith, leaving just the
softened rind. Dice this finely
and add it to the herbs. Pour
over just enough olive oil tomake a dressing consistency
and add the juice of the
remaining lemon.07 Take the lamb out of the
oven and check that it is
cooked to your liking. Leave
it in the hot pan, cover with
the dressing and let it rest for
10-15 min before slicing.08 Serve alongside boiled
or roasted potatoes and
spring vegetables.Above: roast leg of lamb,
boiled lemon and herbs.
Opposite page: lemon
posset and shortcake42 • The Sunday Times Magazine