by Tim Rumney, Chairman of Best Western Hotel Group
A delicious twist for a leg of lamb.
Photography & Styling by Caroline Marson
Serves 6-8
Prep time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 1hr 45 mins
Ingredients
Lamb
2kg leg Cumbrian saltmarsh lamb (bone-in)
20g fresh rosemary
1 sprig rosemary
50g anchovy fillets
1 whole garlic head/bulb
2 tsp chilli flakes
1kg Maris Piper potatoes (or other floury potatoes, such as King Edwards) – peeled or unpeeled, or both. It’s up to you! Then cut into bite sized pieces
Seeds from 2 pomegranates (or 1 pack pomegranate seeds 200g approx)
200g feta cheese, crumbled
200g sundried tomatoes, cut into 2cm lengths
1 litre lamb stock - fresh, or made from cubes. (You can use chicken or veg stock)
1 glass of red wine
1 tbsp redcurrant jelly
juice of half lemon
4 tbsp vegetable oil
Salad
1 pack of rocket (approx. 100g)
2 baby gem lettuce
1 x 400g tin / jar artichoke hearts (drained)
20 stoned olives (green or black)
1 avocado, sliced
Handful toasted pine nuts (optional)
Dressing
5 tbsp soured cream
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
half fresh orange, juice & zest of (or use orange juice with bits in, at a push)
1 tbsp splash of balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
salt & black pepper, to taste
Method
1. Finely chop the rosemary and anchovies and mix with the chilli flakes
2. With a small, sharp knife, make numerous inserts all over the lamb, and stuff with the mixture (use all the mixture)
3. Rub lamb with 1 tablespoon oil
4. Preheat oven to 200C /180C fan / Gas 6 and seal lamb in a baking tray for 15 mins
5. Reduce oven to 180C/160C fan / Gas 4 and cook lamb for 1hour 15 mins
6. Cut the potatoes into 2cm squares, roughly
7. Put into a pan with cold water and heat until boiling
8. In a separate baking tray heat 3 tablespoons of oil and add the parboiled potatoes, a spring of rosemary and the head of garlic broken up into cloves
9. Cook for 45 minutes, or until golden brown (turn occasionally)
10. Cut pomegranates in half and extract seeds (or use pre-extracted seeds!)
11. Cut the feta cheese into 1cm squares
12. Remove lamb from tray and rest (serve pink, ideally)
13. Put the lamb baking tray on the hob over a medium heat and use the red wine to deglaze the tray, scraping up all the cooking juices and bits of lamb.
14. Add the lamb stock, lemon juice and redcurrant jelly and reduce by a third, stirring constantly
15. Combine the salad ingredients and make the dressing
16. Slice the lamb and sprinkle with the pomegranate seeds, feta cheese and sundried tomatoes
17. Serve with the roast potatoes and the dressed salad