Here’s a great roast lamb recipe for your big Easter meal. If you’ve got family coming over and don’t want to be chained to the hob whilst they sit in the lounge catching up, this is the dish for you. You can prep the potatoes ahead and then enjoy your family’s company whilst the lamb does its thing in the oven. I found this recipe on the BBC Good Food website – always a first stop for me if I can’t find what I want in a cookbook. You can see the original here.
I’ve used this recipe a few times and its always come out well for me. I’ll be cooking it again this Easter. The pictures you see here are from New Years Day – I cooked for 6 and used a 2kg joint – this should feed 8 really but we scoffed the lot.
Ingredients:
- 2kg leg of lamb
- 4 garlic cloves, sliced
- Fresh rosemary sprigs
- Fresh thyme sprigs
- 2kg large potatoes, such as King Edwards
- 2 large onions, thinly sliced
- 600ml chicken stock
- 50g butter
Method:
- Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Cut small pockets into the skin and flesh of the lamb by piercing it with the point of a sharp knife. Stuff each pocket with a slice of garlic and a few leaves of rosemary, or scatter with thyme. Put in a roasting tin, season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then cover with foil.
- Peel and thinly slice the potatoes, rinse under the cold tap and pile into a large ovenproof dish or roasting tin. Toss with the onions, remaining slices of garlic and a good scattering of herbs.
- Heat the stock and butter and pour over the potatoes. Cover the dish with foil and bake in the oven with the lamb for 1 hr. Uncover, put the lamb on top of the potatoes and roast uncovered for 45 mins more. Allow the lamb to rest before carving, for about 15 mins. Leave the potatoes in the oven (covered, if starting to brown too much) until ready to serve.
Tips – I use red onions, they look good and the sweetness is gorgeous. Last time I made this, I didn’t use rosemary and thyme – just thyme. Don’t worry if your potatoes start to fall apart, as you scrape them out the pan, the crispy bits will just add to the yum factor!
The finished thing:
