Kitchen Craft Episode 4: Master the leg of lamb
Chef Clem has a message for you: Do not fear the leg of lamb. It needs a bit of care and time, but hardly any effort. The secret is to make a nice marinade, and to let it do all the work for you.
Ingredients:
For the herb-and-mustard crust:
- 30 g parsley, torn
- 30 g basil, torn
- 20 g mint leaves
- 10 cloves garlic
- 135 g Woolies Dijon Mustard
- ½ cup white or red wine vinegar
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Free range bone-in leg of lamb (about 3 kg)
- 1.5 kg Nicola potatoes
- 2 red onions, quartered
- 300 g carrots, peeled
Method:
- In a food processor add the herbs, garlic, mustard, vinegar, olive oil and seasoning, then blend until a smooth mixture is formed.
- Score the leg of lamb on both sides.
- Pour over half the marinade ensuring to cover all of the lamb, then turn the lamb over and coat the other side with the remaining half of the marinade.
- For the best results, cover the lamb with foil or plastic wrap and marinade in the fridge for 24 hours (or 4 hours if pressed for time). Before roasting the lamb, allow it to reach as close to room temperature as possible by taking it out of the fridge 2 hours before.
- Heat the oven to 160°C.
- Add your whole potatoes, onions and carrots to a large roasting dish and coat with some olive oil, salt and pepper, then add the leg of lamb.
- Roast for 2 hours until the meat is still slightly pink (or 90 minutes for a more rare lamb). Allow the lamb to rest for 20 minutes before carving.
Not a big fan of roasting it yourself?