So I promised you Roaring Roast Lamb recipe, from Go to Whoa in an hour, didn’t I? Okay, get your skates on, here we go.
Doesn’t that look great? My Mum used to do a roast most Sundays, it is a practice that has fallen out of favour a bit, and I must admit, I rarely do one as I think there are much more interesting things to cook, but sometimes there is nothing quite like a roast.
People tend to treat a roast like a massive undertaking, and they can be, but this one mostly looks after itself and we can have it from fridge to table in less than an hour. Got your timer ready?
Ingredients
1kg butterflied lamb leg roast
4 sticks rosemary
salt
pepper
french shallots, peeled or quartered brown onions, peeled
Olive oil
6 medium sized potatoes, cut into thirds, skin on
2 beetroot, peeled and quartered
1 whole garlic bulb broken into cloves, leave the skin on
broccoli
brussel sprouts
carrots
1 stock pod or cube
2 tablespoons tapioca starch or cornflour
Preheat oven to 210 degrees C, pop the potatoes, beetroot and most of the garlic into one small roasting dish, drizzle with olive oil, rub it all over the veg to make sure they are coated, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, scatter on some rosemary leaves and pop that into the oven.
In another small roasting dish (just big enough to fit your lamb), pop the stalks of rosemary, stick a small knife into the the lamb just far enough to make three or four small pockets, peel that many garlic cloves and push into the holes, tuck that into your baking dish on top of the rosemary sticks, drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil, dust with a little salt and pepper toss in your shallots or onions, into the hot oven next to the potatoes.
Set your timer here. I roasted this for 40 minutes, if you like it a little bit rare, back that off to 35, if you like it more well done, increase time to 45 minutes.
Right, those things can chat away in the oven for a while now, lets have a look at this steamed veg.
Cut your broccoli into florets, tip your brussel sprouts upside down and cut a slit through the stem to about half way up to ensure they cook through, I do two, in a cross, cut the carrots into sticks, set aside, we are not ready for those just yet.
Okay, now go find something to do for half an hour, this will take care of itself. If you want to give the potatoes a shake from time to time you can, but you really don’t need to, and be careful not to let the heat out of that oven, it will slow down your roast!
Bing! Timer has gone off.
Pull out the roast, take the meat and shallots or onions out of the baking tray, pop it on a plate, cover that with two layers of foil and then wrap in a tea towel, set it aside to rest, if you cut it without resting you are going to lose all of its lovely juices, all over the bench, if we let it sit for a bit, those juices will sink back into the meat, the fibres will relax and we will have a beautiful juicy, tender roast lamb.
Discard the rosemary, mix your tapioca in with 350ml of water and tip that into the pan, scrape down any little stuck on bits, those are our flavour, add your stock pot or cube, I used a beef one, break that up, give it all a good stir, back into the oven.
Pop your steamer bottom on to boil, then pop the sprouts into the top half, set the timer for 6 minutes. At the three minute mark add the carrots. At the two minute mark add the broccoli. At the zero minute mark your veg is done.
While the veg is steaming, grab the roasted potatoes and beetroot and garlic out of the oven, give that gravy a good stir while you are in there, pile it up on one quarter of a large platter.
Unwrap the meat and slice it ACROSS the grain, pop that on the platter with the potatoes, stir the gravy again. Pile the steamed veg alongside the meat. By now the gravy should be thick and translucent, if it isn’t transfer it to a pot and bring it to the boil, stirring all the while, to hurry it up. Drizzle a little gravy on the meat, pop the rest into a jug or gravy boat, quickly, quickly, to the table, shout to family, and.....done!
Good job, five minutes to spare!.