Slashed roast leg of lamb with lemony herb stuffing

Categories: March

Ingredients

• 2-2.3kg leg of lamb
• good handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
• 2 anchovies in oil, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tbsp small salted capers, rinsed
• 1 tbsp grated lemon zest, plus lemon wedges to serve
• 30g fresh white breadcrumbs
• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
• 4 fresh rosemary and 4 fresh thyme sprigs, roughly torn

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 220˚C/fan 200˚C/gas 7. Holding the leg of lamb with its meatiest side towards you, cut right through the meat, almost to the bone, at finger-width intervals.

2. Combine the parsley, anchovies, garlic, capers, lemon zest and breadcrumbs in a bowl. Add the olive oil and squish the mixture into a soft mushy paste with your hands. Push the stuffing down between the lamb ‘slices’ and tie them back into shape with kitchen string. Scatter the lamb with rosemary and thyme, drizzle with a little oil, put in a roasting tin and roast for 20 minutes.
3. Reduce the oven to 190˚C/fan 170˚C/gas 5 and cook for a further 70-90 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer the lamb to a warmed platter. Cover with foil and set aside to rest for about 10 minutes.
4. Strain the cooking juices into a bowl, let it settle, then spoon off and discard any fat on the surface. Remove the string and carve the lamb parallel to the bone.
5. Divide between warm plates and drizzle with some of the cooking juices. Serve with lemon wedges, the spinach and crash-hot potatoes .

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