For a roast with a difference, and to make use of the amazing English Plums that we currently have in stock. Perfect served as part of a Sunday lunch or with a salad and new potatoes, this dish comes is perfect. Slow cooking the leg brings all of the flavours together and makes this a dish that will be remembered for a long time to come.
Ingredients
- 2 large onions
- 1 2.5kg leg of Lamb
- 8 unpeeled garlic cloves
- Few sprigs of thyme
- ¾ tsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 6 whole cloves
- 2 -3 star anise
- 10 plums
- 50ml rice wine vinegar
- 50g light muscovado sugar
- Lime wedges and black pepper to serve
- Heat the oven to 200C, gas 6. Put the onions in a roasting tin and set the lamb on top. Roast for 20 mins.
- Remove the tin from the oven and turn the heat down to 130C, gas ½. Add the garlic, thyme, fennel seeds, cinnamon stick, cloves, star anise, plums and 300ml water. Cover tightly with tin foil and roast for 4 hrs 45 mins or until meltingly tender.
- Remove the lamb from the tin and leave to rest for 15 mins. Meanwhile, pour the pan juices into a saucepan along with 4tbsp of the plum mix from the roasting tin. Skim off the oil and add the vinegar and sugar – add a little water if you need to.
- Bubble for a few mins to break up the plums and make a thick sauce (remove any plum stones). Add a squeeze of lime and lots of black pepper.
