Sunday Roast – Lamb leg with red wine gravy

Lamb leg with red wine gravy, roast potatoes and peas

As a throwback to my childhood we did a Sunday Roast.  A lamb leg (or rather the fillet end of one).  We ate lamb a lot when I was young – I suspect it was closer to mutton than lamb actually.  And we had it for Sunday lunch – which seems amazing to me now – since lunches are much lighter affairs these days.

One huge advantage of the Sunday Roast is that it doesn't take a lot of work to get a good result.

I pre-heated my trusty oven to 190C (~370F) and then turned it down to 150 (~300) when I put the meat in.

I took the meat out of the fridge and left it on the bench to warm to room temperature for about 30 minutes.  I rubbed it with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Then into the pan with a glass of red wine poured into the bottom of the pan. That helps to keep the meat moist.  I cooked it for about an hour and a bit – I use a meat thermometer to check when meat is done enough.

For the gravy, while the lamb was resting I put the roasting pan onto the hob and deglazed the pan with a little more red wine, then added ½ a packet of gravy mix (as an easy way to thicken it) and right at the end took it off the heat and stirred in a spoonful of crème fraiche.

I did crispy roasted potatoes with it.  I really like them done this way.  First I parboil them for 5 to 10 minutes (starting with cold water) depending how big you make the pieces.  Drain them and shake them about in the pot so the edges get knocked about a bit.  Then mix with oil, cayenne pepper, turmeric and some pepper steak spice mix.  But you can use lots of different spices or just salt and pepper.

Then into a hot oven until golden and crispy on the outside and light and fluffy inside – yum.  I find Agria potatoes turn out the best but you will all have your own favourite roasting potato.