slashed, stuffed lamb

all the grotty weather we’ve been having has seen me try to keep it at bay with salads and summery dishes, that plead with the sunshine to return. sadly my magic-foodie-spells have not been working and i’ve had to succumb to something a bit more in keeping with the rain, wind and even hail that we’ve been experiencing.

this lamb dish was the culmination of a week’s worth of inadequately warm clothes and damp feet - those early morning sunshine spells suckered me every time!

i read about slashed lamb a long time ago but never got round to making it – by cutting through to the bone at regular intervals, not only can you cut the cooking time quite dramatically, but the flavours of your stuffing permeate all the way through the meat, but you don’t have to sacrifice the depth of flavour that cooking on the bone provides.

the quantities below would, i think serve 4-6 people easily. i have to confess though – david and i were greedy and had it just the two of us. the leftovers, which lasted us for another 2 meals, were wonderful stuffed into pitta bread with hummus, salad and guacamole, so, even if you’re not cooking for lots of people, give this a try.

slashed stuffed lamb (serves 4-6)

1.75kg leg of lamb

juice of half a lemon and fresh chopped herbs (optional)

stuffing:

5 tablespoons breadcrumbs

6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

2 tablespoons chopped capers

1 tablespoon chopped anchovies

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 tablespoon chopped rosemary

zest of 1 lemon

4 tablespoons olive oil

preheat the oven to 220c.

cut through the meat, almost to the bone, at one inch intervals, working your way all round the leg. you should make your cuts at right angles to the bone as shown in the picture above.

mix together the stuffing ingredients to make a paste and push this into the slashes in the meat.

reshape the meat and tie with a couple of pieces of string, so it holds its shape as it cooks. drizzle with olive oil. roast for 20 minutes then turn the heat down to 190c and roast for another 45-60 minutes. leave to rest under foil for 10 minutes.

strain the juices into a bowls and spoon off any excess fat. optional – add the lemon juice and herbs plus seasoning to taste to the juices to make a tangy sauce, alternatively, just use the juices as they are.

to serve, remove the string and carve the meat parallel to the bone. we had this with some roasted tomatoes (which i surrounded the lamb with) and couscous (i added the lemony, tomatoey juices to my couscous instead of stock, which was delicious).