Butterflying a leg joint cuts the cooking time down drastically, allows the marinade to penetrate deeply and makes the joint easy to serve. The pilaf and ginger-spiked marinade gives it a North African feel.
Ingredients
3.3lbs boned and butterflied leg of lamb (ask your butcher)
1 lemon, finely grated zest and juice
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
Thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated
4 large fresh fennel flower heads, roughly chopped, or 1 tsp dried fennel flowers or pollen, crushed, or 1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed, plus extra fresh fennel flowers, to serve
6 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Sea salt flakes
For the pilaf and sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
2 banana shallots or 4 standard shallots, peeled, halved and finely sliced
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds, lightly crushed
1 large cinnamon stick, broken
1½ cups brown basmati and wild rice mix
2 large carrots, scrubbed and coarsely grated
3½ cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 cup flaked almonds, toasted
½ lemon, finely grated zest and juice
4 medjool dates, stoned and chopped
Large handful mint leaves, finely chopped
Large handful fennel fronds or dill, finely chopped
2 tsp honey
3.5 oz feta, crumbled (optional)
The Homes & Gardens method
1. Put the lamb in a non-metallic dish. Mix the lemon zest and juice, garlic, ginger, fennel flowers and olive oil together in a separate bowl. Season with plenty of black pepper and a little salt. Keep half of this mixture in the bowl (cover and chill) and spread the remainder over both sides of the lamb and leave to marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes (or cover and chill for up to 24 hours, but bring to room temperature before cooking).
2. Pre-heat the oven to 425°C, gas mark 7. Sit a large, sturdy rack in or over a large roasting tray (to catch the lamb juices) and make sure a shelf is positioned near the top of the oven. Scatter the lamb with sea salt and lay it, skin-side up, directly on the bars of the rack. Slide into the oven and roast for 25-30 minutes, depending on thickness, until sizzling and blackened in places. Alternatively, cook on a grill over white-hot charcoal for 30 minutes, turning every 5 minutes or so. Remove the lamb from the oven and tent loosely with foil for 20 minutes. This should yield medium-rare lamb. For medium-well done, rest for 30 minutes before slicing.
3. Meanwhile, make the pilaf. Put the olive oil and shallots in a medium saucepan and set it over a low-medium heat. Cook gently for 5 minutes, then stir in the cumin and coriander and cook for 5 minutes more, until the shallots are beginning to turn golden. Stir in the cinnamon, rice and carrots and stir to coat in the oil. Add the stock, bring to the boil then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes, until the liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat and stir in the almonds, lemon zest, dates, half the mint and half the fennel fronds. Season with lemon juice, salt and pepper.
4. Fold the remaining chopped mint, fennel fronds and the honey into the reserved bowl of marinade to make a rustic herb sauce. Slice the rested lamb on a board, garnish with extra fennel flowers and take it to the table with the pilaf, the crumbled feta (if using) and the herb sauce.
Get the grill out for this showstopper main, but don't forget to allow 24 hours to marinade the lamb, so you'll need to plan ahead if you want to give it a try.
