Stand the lamb in a warm place for around 15 minutes before carving otherwise all of the tasty juices will be on the serving plate rather than in the roast. Cover the lamb loosely with foil – not tightly or it will sweat.
PREPARATION TIME: 5 minutes Cook Time: 90 minutes
Ingredients
- 1½ kg easy carve lamb leg
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large bulb of garlic, cloves separated but left in skin
- 2 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves
- 250 g punnet cherry tomatoes
- gravy and green vegetables to serve
- 1 kg chat potatoes, halved
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Place lamb in a roasting dish and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 1 hour for rare, 1 hour and 15 minutes for medium, or 1½ hours for well done.
- Toss potatoes in oil and place on a tray lined with baking paper. Scatter with garlic and rosemary. Roast in oven with lamb for 1 hour. Add cherry tomatoes during the final 15 minutes of cooking.
- Remove lamb, cover loosely, and rest for 15 minutes before carving. Serve with the garlic, potatoes, tomatoes.Serve the lamb with gravy and green vegetables.
Essential Tips
- Suggested roasting times per 500g for lamb: lamb loin (boned and rolled), leg or shoulder (bone-in), easy carve leg or shoulder
- Cook at 180ºC. Rare 20-25 min, Medium 25-30 min, Well done 30-35 min.
- Judging your roast’s degree of doneness using a meat thermometer. The internal temperature for: Rare – 55-60ºC, Medium rare – 60-65ºC, Medium – 65-70ºC, Medium well – 70-75ºC, Well done – 75ºC.
- You can also use tongs to test the roast’s doneness. Gently prod or squeeze the roast –
- rare is very soft, medium rare is soft, medium is springy but soft, medium well is firm and well done is very firm.
- Roasts need to rest for about 10 to 20 minutes before carving. This gives the juices in the meat a chance to redistribute, giving a moister and more tender result.
