Greek Style Lamb

When the clocks go back and the evenings get warmer, my family and I like to switch up our classic Sunday roast dinners to this alternative Greek style lamb.

The meal incorporates many traditional Greek ingredients - swapping those Yorkshire puds for pitta bread and gravy for tzatziki. But would it really be Greek without olive oil? The dressing for the salad is a simple drizzle of good quality olive oil, which has also been used to rub into the lamb.

This is the perfect Mediterranean inspired meal to serve for your friends and family. Place all the dishes in the centre of the table, allowing everyone to pick and serve as they please.

Published in ESTILA Volume 3

Ingredients:

(Serves 4)

Lamb:

- 1.5kg leg of lamb

- 1 ½ tbsp olive oil

- 2 tbsp maple syrup

- 5 garlic cloves

- 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary (chopped)

- salt & pepper

Greek Salad:

- ½ cucumber

- 2 large tomatoes

- 1 red onion

- 100g feta cheese

- 100g olives

- drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Roasted Vegetables:

- 1 large white potato

- 1 large sweet potato

- 1 red onion

- 2 peppers

- 4 chestnut mushrooms

- 1 courgette

Sides:

- 4 pitta breads

- 200g tzatziki

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 230 degrees.

2. Prepare the lamb by rubbing in the olive oil and salt and pepper, then drizzling over the maple syrup. Pierce five holes in the leg and stick in the garlic cloves. Place the leg in the oven on this high heat for 15 minutes until it has browned, Then add the rosemary to the lamb and reduce the heat to 170 degrees. For a medium finish, allow the leg to cook for 45 minutes and rest with covered foil for a further 15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, you can chop up all your ingredients for the roasted vegetables into bitesize chunks. Place the chopped potatoes on a baking tray with some olive oil and bake for 15 minutes before adding the rest of the vegetables and more olive oil to cook for another 30 minutes.

4. The Greek salad can be prepared by chopping up the vegetables, placing in a bowl and drizzling over some good quality olive oil.

5. Towards the end of the cooking time, toast your pitta breads, get out some serving dishes and get ready to feast!

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