Recipes: Roast lamb with lemon & bay

Roast lamb with lemon & bay

Take note of Lulu's masterclass tips for cooking this classic dish and it will be a success every time

  • 1 x leg of lamb , about 1.7kg
  • 2 whole bulbs garlic , plus 5 cloves
  • 3 lemons

FOR THE POTATOES

  • 8 bay leaves
  • 200g Pink Fir Apple potatoes or Ratte potatoes , halved
  • handful flat-leaf parsley , finely chopped

    Method

    1. Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Put the lamb on a board, rub a little olive oil all over the surface and season well. Pierce the skin 20 times with a small, sharp knife to make incisions about 2cm deep. Peel the garlic cloves and quarter them lengthways, pulling out any green bits. Peel some thick strips of zest off 1 of the lemons and cut them into 20 smaller strips, small enough to stuff into the incisions. Cut 4 of the bay leaves into similarly sized pieces. Push a piece of bay, a strip of lemon and a quarter piece of garlic into each incision.
    2. Put the lamb in a roasting tin, halve the garlic bulbs and put them beside the lamb. Quarter the remaining 2 lemons and put them beside the garlic. Add the potatoes, season around the lamb and tuck in the remaining bay leaves. Squeeze the juice from the zested lemon over the lamb and potatoes and add a good drizzle of olive oil.
    3. Roast for 1 hour 15 minutes for medium rare, 1 hour 30 minutes for medium and 1 hour 45 minutes for medium/well done. Rest for1/2 hour before carving. Lift the garlic and lemon out of the tin, then stir the parsley into the potatoes. Arrange everything on a platter to serve.

    TryTHREE VARIATIONS

    Swap the bay leaves for anchovies and push a piece into each incision along with the lemon and garlic. Whizz a handful of fresh oregano with the lemon, garlic and a little oil to make a paste - rub this into the incisions and over the skin. Slow-cook the lamb at 150C/fan 130C/gas 2 for 3 hours; wrap it in a large sheet of baking parchment or foil to seal in the juices.

    PER SERVING

    456 kcalories, protein 43,7g, carbohydrate 8,6g, fat 27,7 g, saturated fat 10,8g, fibre 1g, salt 0,25 g