Deboned lamb leg, slow roasted in the oven
After seven-and-a-half hours in the oven, it’s reached perfection
Slow roasted deboned lamb leg, red wine jus, sesame butternut with pickled beetroot, mayonnaise and micro greens
My wife’s parents visit us in South Africa every year, and before we had to say goodbye last week before they headed back to Netherlands, we had one final meal together.
A little farewell supper was in order! So what did I serve my in-laws as their last South African meal? There are two meats I love very dearly: lamb and pork. They are versatile and give you an opportunity to go in multiple directions. This time, I chose to go with lamb.
This dish is a labour of love - it takes a whole day to cook it and ideally you need to start the day before, to allow the meat to marinade overnight. It’s a great winter warmer to make on the weekend.
Ingredients to make this slow roasted lamb leg dish
1 good quality deboned Karoo leg of lamb
2 tbsp olive oil
20 g crushed fresh rosemary
1 lemon for zesting
Smokey Malden salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp soya sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup red wine
2 tbsp honey (optional)
How to prepare the slow roasted lamb leg
Generously cover the leg of lamb in olive oil, crushed fresh rosemary, 1 lemon’s zest and smokey Malden salt and lots of ground black pepper. Leave this overnight in the fridge.
When ready to cook, pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees Celcius.
Place the marinaded leg of lamb into an ovenproof dish and add the soya sauce, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, chicken stock and red wine.
Cook on 160 degrees for four hours turning every hour.
After four hours, cover the lamb with silver foil and cook for another three hours.
For the last half an hour raise the temperature to 200 degrees Celcius. At this point, you need to watch the basting to ensure it doesn’t dry out. If the liquid dries or becomes sticky, add chicken stock each time you turn it, to ensure enough liquid is in the dish.
Strain the liquid and then reduce, tasting to adjust to taste. At this point I often add some honey to balance out the flavours.
I served the lamb roast with a red wine jus, sesame butternut with pickled beetroot, mayonnaise and micro greens.
A non-alcoholic alternative
If you don’t cook with alcohol you could substitute the wine with pomegranate or you can do 50% chicken stock to 50% cranberry.
Enjoy! Please tag me on Instagram if you’ve made this recipe, I’d love to see it!
To see how I served the dish, have a look at the post below:
More Lamb Recipes
Below the newsletter block, you will find some more lamb recipes.
If you’re looking for a lamb dish, this pulled lamb recipe was a real win last Easter. I also love cooking lamb loin chops on the braai, and have even cooked a leg of lamb on the braai. These lamb skewers on the braai go very well with garlic naan and whipped feta. Enjoy!
About Shawn Godfrey
Photo credit: Niki M Photography
Shawn Godfrey is an entrepreneur based in Cape Town, South Africa. After the Covid-19 lockdown saw his business in financial distress, cooking was the creative outlet that helped to keep him sane. To keep track of his recipes, and encourage friends and families to join him, he starts his instagram account The Roasted Dad.
Fast-forward to late 2021 - on a whim Shawn (encouraged by his wife Lianne) enters MasterChef South Africa. It is a crazy time of life: running a 200 people business and struggling to keep it profitable, two small children with a third on the way, and about to move into a new house. But when Shawn gets selected to be one of the 20 contestants participating in the fourth season of MasterChef South Africa, he decides to go all in. Leaving his 7-month-pregnant wife to look after their then three and one-year-old children, he battles it out and comes back home five weeks later with the trophy and a million rand prize money in his pocket.
It all started with an Instagram account, but The Roasted Dad is so much more now. Shawn has stayed his entrepreneurial self and whilst he hosts Private Dinner Parties and Cook-with-Me Demos, does Restaurant Take-Overs, he still runs the lighting company and several other businesses.
On his blog, Shawn shares Restaurant Reviews and Accommodation Reviews, and gives an insight into the wild and wonderful life he leads together with his wife Lianne, and their three children Aiden (7), Olivia (5) and Harvey (3).
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This dish is a labour of love - it takes a whole day to cook it and ideally you need to start the day before, to allow the meat to marinade overnight. It’s a great winter warmer to make on the weekend.