Gently-spiced slow roast lamb with rice apricots and cashews
I bought a half leg of lamb because it was on special offer. I just decided to experiment with how to cook it. And this is the happy result.
I had some leftovers which I then used to update my Shepherds Pie recipe, because I think originally that was how it was made, with leftover roast lamb.
I had never cooked a leg, or even half leg, of lamb before. So I went searching for some stuff online. I found a great short video on how to cook a leg of lamb. My recipe is completely different, but I know I’d love it the way it’s cooked in that recipe too.
I used some Baharat spice mix and Aleppo pepper to flavour the lamb. Baharat is a mix of cumin, cardamom, coriander, black peppercorns, nutmeg and allspice. Aleppo pepper tastes like a mix of Paprika and Cayenne pepper. I found a recipe for Baharat spice mix that includes paprika so if you add a pinch of Cayenne pepper to it, it would be perfect for this recipe.
Ingredients
- Half leg (~1.8kg) of lamb
- ½ tbsp Baharat spice blend
- ½ tsp Aleppo pepper
- 4 - 5 sprigs of rosemary
- 3 sprigs of rosemary
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 2 large onions, sliced
- 1 pint (570ml) chicken or lamb stock
- 1 orange
- 1 lemon
- nutmeg
- 200g Basmati rice
- ¼ cup cashew nuts
- ¼ cup dried apricots
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt & freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- 2 hours before you’re ready to cook the lamb, take it out of the fridge. Make a paste by mashing together a peeled clove of garlic, the Baharat spice, the Aleppo pepper, the leaves from a sprig of rosemary and two sprigs of thyme, a good pinch of salt, 3 peppercorns or freshly grated black pepper and a half tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Rub the paste into the lamb, paying particular attention to the fatty parts. Next, quarter two large garlic cloves lengthwise, chop a sprig of rosemary into 8 pieced and stab the fatty part of the lamb in 8 places, an inch or two apart, and shove a piece of garlic and rosemary into each. Cover the lamb losely and leave at room temperature for about 2 hours before roasting.
- Turn the oven on to 140°rees; C. Make or heat a pint of chicken or lamb stock. Leave a large piece of orange peel in the hot stock for 10 minutes to infuse. Add the juice of the orange and half the lemon to the stock. Grate in a generous amount of nutmeg. Grease an oven dish with a little extra virgin olive oil and place the sliced onions in the dish together with a sprig of rosemary, a couple of sprigs of thyme, a peeled and bruised clove of garlic. Place the lamb on top of these. Remove the orange peel from the stock and pour ⅔ of it over the lamb. Sprinkle with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place the dish in the middle of the oven and let cook for 3 ½ hours.
- Rinse 200g of Basmati rice. Add water to the remaining stock so that makes 500ml of liquid. Heat a little olive oil in a saucepan. Add a pinch of salt and then the rice to the pot. Stir in liquid and bring to the boil. Take the lamb dish from the oven and carefully add in the boiling rice and liquid to the dish. Scatter in the cashew nuts and dried apricots. Let cook for another 30 minutes or until the rice is nicely cooked.
