Recipe Difficulty: Medium
Prep Time: 15 min (Lamb) / Approx. 1 hour (Accompaniments)
Cooking Time: 5hr 15 (Lamb) / 1 hour (Accompaniments)
The perfect Sunday roast in our house always features lamb. A firm family favourite; we like to cook it long and slow to produce tender, pulled lamb. Served with a gorgeous thick gravy and our favourite accompaniments, this is a real feast, perfect for Easter Sunday with the family.
We chose to use our finest Yorkshire leg of lamb (On The Bone) but you can use any of our lamb roasting joints.
Ingredients (To serve 4-6)
Leg of lamb (On The Bone) – varied sizes available (we used a half leg on this occasion which feeds 4-5 people comfortably 1.4-1.6kg)
For the lamb:
Full head of garlic (unpeeled and cut horizontally)
1 onion (quartered)
Salt & pepper
4 rosemary sprigs (use 2 if you only want a hint of rosemary)
1.5 tbsp olive oil
750ml beef stock
500ml water
For the gravy:
4 tbsp flour
250 ml water
Salt & pepper to taste
For the accompaniments:
Roast Potatoes –
4 medium potatoes
Garlic granules
Salt & pepper
Olive oil
Rosemary sprigs
Mashed Potatoes –
4 medium potatoes
Milk (as required)
Mayonnaise (as required)
Butter (as required, always Lurpak for us)
Carrots –
400g carrots (peeled and cut into batons)
Braised Red Cabbage –
½ red cabbage (thinly sliced)
½ red onion (thinly sliced)
Garlic granules
Balsamic vinegar
Soy sauce
Salt & pepper
Yorkshire Puddings (makes 12 small) –
70g plain flour
2 eggs
100ml milk
Sunflower oil for cooking
Cauliflower Cheese –
1 large cauliflower (leaves cut off), broken into pieces
500ml milk
4 tbsp flour
50g butter
100g strong cheddar, grated
Method
STEP 1 – Getting the lamb in the oven
- Preheat the oven to 155°C (fan) / 170°C
- Place garlic, onion and rosemary in a metal roasting pan
- Season the lamb on all sides (with salt & pepper)
- Turn the lamb over so it sits on the garlic and onion and the fattier side is facing up
- Drizzle the lamb with olive oil
- Pour the beef broth and water around the lamb (it won’t cover it)
- Cover with foil (don’t use a lid, you want a bit of liquid to steam out through the gap in the foil)
- Place in the oven and roast for 4 ½ hours
Roast potatoes
Peel and chop the potatoes into large chunks, boil in a pan of water for 10 minutes to soften slightly. Add to a roasting tray, cover with oil, salt & pepper, garlic granules and throw in some sprigs of rosemary. Add to the oven for 45 minutes (200°C – whilst lamb is resting out of the oven). (Or 20 minutes if using an air fryer)
Mashed potatoes
Peel and chop the potatoes into chunks, add to a pan of salted boiling water and boil for 25 minutes until soft. Remove and drain from the pan, add butter, milk splash and a tbsp of mayonnaise. Mash until creamy and smooth.
Carrots
Peel the carrots, and chop into batons. Add to a pan of salted water and boil for 25 minutes until soft. Drain and serve.
Braised red cabbage
Slice the cabbage and onion. Add a splash of oil to the pan, and fry the onion in a frying pan. Add a splash of balsamic vinegar and fry the onions for a few minutes. Add the cabbage and stir frequently. Add a splash of soy, garlic granules, salt & pepper and cook until the cabbage softens.
Yorkshire puddings
Add the flour to a bowl, make a small well in the flour and add the eggs and milk. Add a dash of salt & pepper and whisk. Add a splash of sunflower oil to your yorkshire pudding tray and heat the tray & oil in the oven for 15 minutes. Add the mixture evenly and cook for 18 minutes at 200°C until browned and fluffy.
Cauliflower cheese
Begin by bringing a large saucepan of water to a boil. Then, add one large cauliflower, broken into pieces, and allow it to cook for about 5 minutes. To check if it’s cooked, lift out a piece—it should be tender. After cooking, drain the cauliflower and transfer it into an ovenproof dish. Preheat the oven to 220C/200C/gas 7. Return the saucepan to the heat and add 500ml of milk, 4 tbsps of flour, and 50g of butter. Continuously whisk the mixture as the butter melts and the mixture begins to boil. As you whisk, the flour will incorporate and the sauce will thicken. Keep whisking for about 2 minutes until the sauce is thick and bubbly. Remove the saucepan from the heat, then stir in most of the 100g grated cheddar cheese. Pour this cheese sauce over the cauliflower in the dish. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Place the dish in the preheated oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling and the top is golden brown.
STEP 3 – The gravy
Once the meat is removed from the tray, use a large spoon to skim the oil / fat from the surface of the liquid. If your tray can go on the hob, add to the hob (if not transfer all of the liquid into a pan). Put the hob on medium / high and when the liquid begins bubbling add the flour. Use a whisk to mix for a few minutes. Once the mixture looks ‘sludgy’ whisk in 250ml of water until it becomes a gravy-like consistency. Add pepper to taste. Strain the gravy into a bowl pressing the juices from the onions / garlic. Pour into a gravy jug.
STEP 4 – Serve
We like to serve the dinner as a ‘serve yourself’. Add the lamb to a large serving plate surrounded by the potatoes. Pull the lamb apart using two forks and let everyone dig in! Perfect!
Note: Cooking times will differ depending on the size of the joint chosen. For joints over 2kg add an extra 30 minutes to the main cooking time, and for joints over 3kg add an extra hour.
