Balsamic Aromatic Bay Leaf Roasted Lamb

As promised:

Nigella Lawson's Bayleaf Lamb roast -              Glorious.       Easy.      Divine.
be sure to serve this with the Belinda Jeffery's delicious fragrant lentil salad from our earlier post.

Nigella Lawson’s balsamic bay-leaf lamb pairs perfectly with the aromatic spices of Belinda Jeffery’s red lentil salad. 

This makes for a flavoursome, palate pleasing summer menu choice.  The lentils will soak up the luscious juices from the lamb.  

The meat practically cooks itself and the 
salad can be prepared ahead of time – a great choice when you do not want to spend hours in the kitchen.  

Simple ingredients transform a lamb roast into a mouth-watering flavour packed meal.

A few provisos:

- Ask your butcher to bone and butterfly the lamb.  This speeds up both preparation and cooking times.

- Remove the excess fat from the lamb.  
It will take 5 minutes to get rid of the white fat deposits but I guarantee you will feel much happier serving lamb this way.  Fat is Fat. (sorry Nigella).

- Use fresh bay leaves – this is one time that dried bay leaves will detract from the overall flavour.

- While the lamb is resting, pour the juices into a jug and allow the fat to settle and skim it away prior to serving the meat.

Serves 6 – 8

Preparation         15 minutes including 5 minutes fat removal. 

Cooking              40 minutes – 1 hour (depends on preference) and minimum 15 minutes resting time

Ingredients

1.5 – 2 kg boned and butterflied leg of lamb – remove fat and re-weigh to calculate cooking time.

6 – 8 fresh bay leaves – snipped    PLUS    extra whole leaves for garnish, if desired

2  -  3 cloves garlic,  peeled and finely sliced

30 ml tablespoons Olive Oil     (Nigella uses 60ml - you can be like Nigella if you like)

40 ml tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar 

1 teaspoon sea salt flakes        (Nigella uses 2)

Option -               Pepper – freshly ground.

Method

Preheat oven to 220 o  Celsius.

Remove obvious fat from lamb   (recommended - see above)

Place lamb, skin side down, snugly in a roasting pan about 5 cm deep.

Push the garlic slivers into small slits in the meat.

Sprinkle with snipped bay leaves and oil and vinegar and half the salt.

Massage in and allow to come to room temperature if possible.

Turn the lamb over so it is now skin side up.  Sprinkle with remaining salt and pepper if desired

Roast for 30 – 40 minutes, longer if needed.  Depends on weight and your oven.  
May need to reduce oven to 200 oC if it needs more cooking.

Check lamb with a meat thermometer. Cook to your preference. 
Check lamb regularly to ensure it is not starting to dry out.  Removing fat means it will dry out faster.
If it is browning too quickly, but not quite cooked, cover loosely with foil so meat does not dry out.

When cooked, remove from oven, drain juices into a jug, cover meat in pan loosely with foil to rest in a warm place approx. 10 - 15 minutes depending on cooking time. 

While the lamb is resting, pour the juices into a jug and allow the fat to settle and skim it away. Reserve the strained (de-fatted) juices to serve. May need to add a dash of boiling water to dilute.

Carve meat and serve with the skimmed meat juices drizzled over.

Serving Suggestions

Excellent with Belinda Jeffery's Spiced Red Lentil salad (refer to our earlier post)  

OR  with  a Fresh green salad OR   roasted or steamed vegetables.

                                                            Enjoy!   Colleen