Roast Leg of Lamb with Salsa Verde and Lamb Jus

Name: Roast Leg of Lamb with Salsa Verde and Lamb Jus
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 min
Total time: 16 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 2 cloves Garlic; 4 fillets Anchovy in oil; 100ml Extra virgin olive oil; 20g Mint; 10g Margoram; 30g Flat-leaf parsley; 40g Breadcrumbs; 2 pinches Sea salt flakes; 2 pinches Ground black pepper; 1 small Banana shallot; 40ml Water; 1 tsp Red wine vinegar; 1 bulb Garlic; 1 Carrot; 1 Onion; 2 sprigs Rosemary; 3 sprigs Thyme; 2.5kg Leg of lamb, boned; 4 pinches Ground black pepper; 2 tbsp Olive oil; 4 pinches Sea salt; 1 lg tsp Arrowroot or Cornflour; 1 tbsp Water

Prep 15 minsCook 1 hour 5 minsServes 8

A sumptuous feast for a special occasion. Ask your butcher to bone the leg, creating the ‘butterfly’ cut. Salsa verde, the herby and piquant sauce, takes only about 10 minutes to make (please see my recipe in Basic Recipes). I like to serve the lamb with boiled new potatoes.

This recipe is from my cookbook: Simply Raymond: Kitchen Garden

Ingredients

For the Salsa Verde

2 clovesGarlic
4 filletsAnchovy in oil
100mlExtra virgin olive oil
20gMint
10gMargoram
30gFlat-leaf parsley
40gBreadcrumbs
2 pinchesSea salt flakes
2 pinchesGround black pepper
1 smallBanana shallot
40mlWater
1 tspRed wine vinegar

For the Leg of Lamb and the Jus

1 bulbGarlic
1Carrot
1Onion
2 sprigsRosemary
3 sprigsThyme
2 1/2kgLeg of lamb, boned
4 pinchesGround black pepper
2 tbspOlive oil
4 pinchesSea salt
1 lg tspArrowroot or Cornflour
1 tbspWater

Method

1
For the Salsa Verde Place the peeled garlic cloves on a board and use the side of a kitchen knife to scrape them to a purée. Coarsely chop the anchovies and, with the back of a knife, scrape them to a purée. Divide the garlic and anchovy purées between two medium-sized bowls. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to each bowl and mix to a smooth paste. Next, coarsely chop the leaves of the mint and marjoram and coarsely chop the parsley, leaves and stems. Divide these chopped herbs between the bowls. Into one of the bowls, add 20ml olive oil, the breadcrumbs, 1 pinch of salt and 1 pinch of pepper and mix. This is the rough-cut salsa verde, which will be used to stuff the butterflied leg of lamb. Finely dice the shallot and add to the second bowl, along with the remaining 50ml of olive oil, the water, red wine vinegar and remaining salt and pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if necessary.
2
Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6. Make the salsa verde. Halve the garlic bulb crossways. Wash and coarsely chop the unpeeled carrot and chop the unpeeled onion into eight wedges. Place them in a roasting tin with the sprigs of rosemary and thyme and keep aside. Open the leg of lamb and season the flesh (and not the fat) with 2 pinches of the black pepper. Rub the rough-cut salsa verde onto the meat. Roll up the leg so that the salsa verde stuffing is concealed, then tightly tie the leg with kitchen string to form a round joint. Drizzle with a little olive oil and season with the salt and 2 pinches of black pepper. Place the seasoned leg of lamb on top of the vegetables in the tin.
3
Roast for 30 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 170°C/ 150°C fan/gas 3½ and baste the lamb with the fat and juices in the roasting tin. Continue to roast for a further 35 minutes. So, that’s a total roasting time of 1 hour and 5 minutes. (If you want to check the core temperature with a meat probe, the lamb should be about 54°C/129°F to have a pink blush once rested.) Leave the lamb to rest in the tin, loosely covered with foil, for 30 minutes. Then transfer it to a clean tray, still loosely covered with foil, while you make the jus …
4
For the jus, use the roasting tin with the now caramelised onion, carrot, garlic and herbs. Pour freshly boiled water into the tin and use a wooden spoon (or spatula) to scrape the caramelised juices from the base of the tin. Pour this through a sieve into a medium-sized saucepan and bring it to a gentle simmer for 5 minutes. Skim off any excess fat that rises to the surface. Meanwhile, mix the arrowroot (or cornflour) with the tablespoon of cold water to form a paste. Use a hand whisk to stir the paste into the simmering jus, and allow the jus to thicken. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if necessary. Keep the jus hot and strain it into a gravy boat when you are ready to serve.
5
To serve, return the leg of lamb to the hot oven (170°C) for 5 minutes to heat the outside of the leg. Transfer the lamb to a board and carve it. Serve with salsa verde, the hot lamb jus and boiled baby potatoes.

Cooking is always an expression of care and generosity. Enjoy this dish.

Bon appétit!