Best Roast Lamb

photo by Rita1652

- Ready In:
- 1hr 30mins
- Ingredients:
- 8
- Serves:
-
6
ingredients
- 1 1⁄2 - 2 kg leg of lamb
- 2 (50 g) cans anchovies
- 1 bunch fresh rosemary
- 4 large garlic cloves, peeled and sliced lengthways into three
- 75 g butter, softened black pepper
- 375 ml dry white wine
- 1 lemon
- 1 bunch watercress, juice, to garnish
directions
- Preheat the oven to 220C/Gas 7/425°F With a small sharp knife, make about 12 incisions 5cm deep in the fleshy side of the joint. Insert a piece of garlic, half an anchovy and a small sprig of rosemary into each incision. Push all of them right in with your little finger. Cream the butter with any remaining anchovies and smear it all over the surface of the meat. Grind over plenty of black pepper. Place the lamb in a roasting tin and pour the wine around. Tuck in any leftover sprigs of rosemary and pour over the lemon juice. Put in the oven and roast for 15 minutes.
- Turn the oven temperature down to 180C/Gas 4/360F and roast the lamb for a further hour, or slightly more, depending on how you like your meat. Baste from time to time with the winey juices. Take the meat out of the oven and leave to rest in a warm place for at least 15 minutes before carving.
- Taste the juices and see if any salt is necessary - it shouldn't be, because of the anchovies. During roasting, the wine should have reduced and mingled with the meat juices and anchovy butter to make a delicious gravy. If it's too thin, a quick bubble on the hob should improve the consistency. Mashed potato is good with this.
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OK, here goes. I live in Athens, Greece. I moved out here many, many years ago from Ottawa, Canada - so I am blessed in having two wonderful heritages!
I suffer from compulsive obsessive behaviour with regard to food and my psychiatrist thought it would be a good idea to find a 'society' where many have the same problem and try to find a cure.
So far, I've copied a couple of thousand recipes from this site and my psychiatrist has thrown the towel in and refuses to answer the phone when I call.
What did I do wrong?
Got 3 kids that keep me on the go - 10 and under at this point (2008) - I may not get round to updating this for a few years, so you'll have to do your own maths.
I teach English full-time and Greek Cookery part-time. I would like to make the cooking part of it full-time and the English Grammar part of it part-time.
That's all for now.