Italian-style Lamb with Herbs, Honey, Chillies and Lemon

Ingredients 

- 1.2kg leg of lamb

- 8-10 sprigs of fresh rosemary

- 8-10 garlic cloves

- 2 red chillies

- 2 tablespoons runny honey

- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

- 1 lemon (all the juice needed)

- salt & pepper for seasoning

- extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees fan / 200 degrees conventional / gas mark 6. Organize your vegetables and Yorkshire puddings (see previous blog post of how to make perfect Yorkshires!). Start by making about 5 shallow incisions on the skin-side of the meat and fill each one with one finely chopped garlic clove and a few rosemary leaves (you can add more if you are a big fan of garlic and rosemary!) Brush the meat all over with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Cover with foil and cook for 20 mins. 

2. While the end of part one is completing, prepare your marinade. Use about 5 sprigs of rosemary, finely chopped after removing the leaves from the stems, and place in a small bowl. Add 2 finely-chopped red chillies, 2 tablespoons of runny honey, 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, the juice of 1 whole lemon, season with salt and pepper, and add however much garlic as you like (I added about 5 cloves to this!)

3. Remove the meat from the oven and brush with about half of your marinade. Re-cover and cook for 1 hour. 

4. After an hour, remove from the oven and brush with the remaining marinade (you can keep this covered with cling film and at room temperature), and now do not re-cover the meat with foil and just return to the oven for the final 20 minutes.

5. Once out of the oven, insert a skewer into the thickest part of the meat to ensure it is cooked through. If the juices run clear, it is ready. All the juices that have accumulated in your roasting tray can be added to your gravy. 

I would recommend you enjoy this Sunday roast with gorgeous Montepulciano a'Abruzzo. This fabulous Italian red wine from the Abruzzo region of Italy (east of Rome and on the Adriatic coastline) is great with meat but also pasta too (see my previous pasta recipes). 

Bring Italy to your kitchen this weekend! ;) 

J xx