Slow cooked lamb with lemon, oregano and potatoes

I do enjoy a Sunday roast; it brings back memories of my childhood and waiting patiently in the kitchen while my mum lovingly prepared the food. To this day I will prepare a roast every Sunday, a nod to my childhood. However I like to vary my preparation method depending on time of year and what is in season. This is a summery take on a lamb roast with flavours of garlic, oregano and lemon. It requires a long slow cook so patience is definitely required but the results are worth it. Any leftover lamb can be used for shepherds pie, salads or my lamb scrumpets.

Serves: 3 - 4

Difficulty: Easy

Time: 4.5 hrs

Ingredients

For the lamb and potatoes

  • 1kg boneless lamb leg
  • 800g charlotte potatoes
  • 3 tbsp dried oregano
  • 1 tbsp sea salt
  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 40g butter
  • 125 ml white wine
  • 125 ml water
  • 2 lemons
  • 1 garlic bulb

For the oregano & yoghurt sauce

  • 200g natural yoghurt
  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 8 sprigs fresh oregano
  • 1/2 clove garlic
  • sea salt

To serve

  • Generous bunch of watercress

Slow cooked lamb with lemon, oregano and potatoes

I do enjoy a Sunday roast; it brings back memories of my childhood and waiting patiently in the kitchen while my mum lovingly prepared the food. To this day I will prepare a roast every Sunday, a nod to my childhood. However I like to vary my preparation method depending on time of year and what is in season. This is a summery take on a lamb roast with flavours of garlic, oregano and lemon. It requires a long slow cook so patience is definitely required but the results are worth it. Any leftover lamb can be used for shepherds pie, salads or my lamb scrumpets.

Method

For the lamb and potatoes

  1. Set the oven to 210°C (fan).
  2. Next prepare the lamb. Place the lamb in a roasting tray that is large enough to hold the meat and potatoes. The lamb should open up if it’s been deboned, so make sure you unroll it and lay it out flat. If it hasn’t been butterflied do not worry, you can also cook it as a whole joint.
  3. Rub the lamb all over with 1 tbsp of the olive oil. Squeeze one of the lemons over the meat and sprinkle with half the salt and 2 tbsp of the dried oregano. Make sure the meat is well coated and then pop in the oven on the top shelf.
  4. Cook for 15 mins on one side before turning over and cooking for another 15 mins. The meat should be beautifully brown after this time. Remove the lamb from the oven and reduce the temperature to 150°C (fan).
  5. Set the lamb aside on a plate and then pour away the fat from the roasting pan.
  6. Next chop your potatoes. If you’re using charlotte potatoes you will not need to peel them; the reason why I’ve chosen a waxy potato over a more floury one such as a king edward, is because they stand up to the long slow cook. Cut into rough 1cm dices, but you don’t need to be too precious about this.
  7. Tumble the potatoes in to the roasting tin and add the remaining olive oil, salt and dried oregano. Next break up a bulb of garlic and scatter the cloves over the potatoes. Finally cut the remaining lemon in half and squeeze the juice over the potatoes; don’t discard the juiced halves though add them to the pan with the potatoes as it will add and extra citrus punch. With a wooden spoon mix everything together so that it is well coated.
  8. Take the butter and chop into small chunks; dot around the potatoes and garlic.
  9. You can now get the lamb and sit it on top of everything in the tray, make sure to pour any of the juices that have collected on the plate on top of the meat.
  10. Finally pour the wine and water around the lamb and over the potatoes and garlic.
  11. Cover the roasting tin with tin foil and place back in the oven for 3.5 – 4hrs. The house will fill with delicious aromas!
  12. You will know when the meat is ready as it will flake apart easily with two forks and the potatoes will be soft and golden brown.
  13. Remove from the oven and leave to stand while you prepare the sauce.

For the oregano & yoghurt sauce

  1. Strip the leaves from the oregano sprigs and add to a blender with the garlic and a generous pinch of salt (if you can’t find any fresh oregano this would also work with fresh rosemary, just reduce the amount to 3). Blitz until finely chopped.
  2. Next add the olive oil and whizz again until you have a loose paste.
  3. Spoon the yoghurt in to a small bowl and then add the oregano paste. Mix well and set aside until ready to serve.

To serve

  1. See photo below. I like to serve everything on a large serving platter which I place in the centre of the table; that way everyone can dive in and help themselves. Shred the lamb with two forks and pile on to the platter with the potatoes and a large bunch of watercress. Serve the oregano and yogurt on the side. Any left over lamb you can keep in the fridge for the lamb scrumpets recipe!

Lamb with potatoes and salad

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save