RECIPE: Roast Lamb
At Cookery School we teach to empower so that everyone has the confidence to replicate recipes again and again at home. We also teach by principle – if you can understand how to make roasts, you can make a whole range of different roasted meats using the same principle.
During our time at home, in isolation, these principles have never been more pertinent, when we all need to cook a lot more. We will be sharing simple, home-cooked weekly recipes with you, so that your experience of cooking during Covid-19 is a positive one, with new recipes learnt and delicious dishes enjoyed.
Roasts: basic principles
Coat the meat or vegetables to be roasted with flavouring, e.g. garlic and/or herbs.
• Baste with oil, where appropriate, or a marinade.
• Season well with salt and pepper.
• Place in a very hot oven and cook until crisp, turning if necessary to achieve good
colour on all sides. For meat and poultry, time the cooking according to the pound
or kilo as per the recipe.
• For meat, allow the joint to rest for a few minutes before carving. This allows the
juices to relax back into the meat and makes for a more succulent roast.
• For chicken, it is very important that no part is partially cooked or uncooked. This
can be dangerous as chicken can contain bad bacteria, such as salmonella or
campylobacter, which can cause serious illness or even death. To check if chicken
is done, insert a knife into the thickest part of the thigh (as this takes the longest
time to cook). If the juices run clear, with no trace of blood in them, the bird is
cooked This can be the test for cooking turkey or other birds too. Duck is often
eaten rare, but is less susceptible to bacterial invasion if from a safe source.
• The safest way to check whether meat is cooked is to use a digital probe thermometer.
If the probe reading is 82°C / 180°F when inserted into a chicken/turkey thigh
then the bird is safe to eat.
• To cook meat to varying levels of doneness, using a probe, look for a reading of
60°C / 140°F for rare meat, and 75–80°C / 170–175°F/ for well-done meat.
• When placing the probe in the chicken or meat to be tested, remove the meat from
the oven and ensure that the probe is not touching a bone but is in the central,
thickest part of the meat so that a true reading is taken.
Roast Lamb
Feeds 4-6 / Freezer Friendly
Ingredients
2.5 kg / 5 lb leg of lamb, on the bone
4 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced lengthways into about 4 slivers
2 garlic cloves, peeled,and crushed
handful of fresh rosemary
salt and freshly ground pepper
Method
1. Preheat your oven to 190ºC / 375ºF.
2. Using a very sharp knife, make about 15 incisions in the lamb.
3. Push a sliver of garlic and a sprig of rosemary into each incision.
4. Spread the crushed garlic over the lamb, as evenly as possible.
5. Season the joint all over with salt and pepper.
6. Place on a roasting tray and cook in the oven, allowing 24 minutes per kg or 12
minutes per lb for rare lamb, or 30–32 minutes per kg or 15–16 minutes per lb for
lamb that is well done.
7. Leave to stand for about 15 minutes before carving and serving.
8. Serve the pan juices separately.
Rosalind’s tips
1. Never throw away pan juices, use them to make the most delicious homemade gravy.
2. Use leftover roast lamb in sandwiches or thinly sliced on a charcuterie board.
3. Do not cover the meat in foil as you want the skin to caramelise and be crispy
4. As tempting as it might be, leave your roasted meat to stand after cooking for approximately 15 minutes, by leaving it to rest it allows the juices to redistribute evenly through out the meat, resulting in more tender and juicy meat.
Cooking during Covid-19
We have a wealth of experience to share in these unprecedented times if you need help cooking during Coronavirus. We’ll be giving you tips and recipes on using store cupboard ingredients, preserving, pickling & above all making the most of your valuable ingredients & not wasting food. PLEASE let us have YOUR questions and SHARE on Facebook or Instagram what you’ve been cooking & our founder Rosalind will be able to get back to you with answers so we can all learn from each other.
