A beautiful leg of lamb like this one lends itself to a long slow roast. It spends over four hours in the oven, it is covered so it retains its moistness and at the end of the cooking the succulent meat falls of the bones.

Ingredients.

a leg of lamb, this one is from the New Zealand high country kissed by the cold fresh snow caped mountain winds etc. 🙂

3 or 4 onions.

a large sprig of rosemary.

6-8 cloves of garlic.

3/4 of a preserved lemon, if you don’t have preserved use 1 whole fresh lemon.

1 cup of white wine, this one is from one of our local Nelson wineries Blackenbrook

salt and pepper plus some coconut oil.

Peel the onions and chop into large pieces. Peel the garlic but leave it whole. Wash out the insides of the preserved lemon and chop, if you are using a fresh lemon just cut it into quarters. Melt a bit of coconut oil in a roasting pan big enough to hold the lamb, lay the Rosemary in the tray.

Lay the onions and lemons around the outside of the Rosemary and place the lamb on top of the Rosemary, season with salt and pepper and pour in the wine.

Heat the oven on to 220c, tightly cover the roasting pan with foil and put the pan in the oven and immediately turn the oven down to 160c, roast for four hours at 160c. No need to look at it just leave it alone. When the time is up remove the foil, turn the oven up to 200c and let it brown for about 20 minutes. Watch that there is still a good centimetre of liquid in the bottom of the pan, if it’s drying out too much just add 1/2 cup of water.When it has browned to your liking remove from the oven, place the lamb on a plate and cover with foil to rest for 20 minutes.

Five minutes before you are ready to eat put the pan of liquids and onions etc onto a hob to heat up, remove the Rosemary and discard, mash with a potato masher to purée the onions and garlic.

Pour into a heated jug and serve with the lamb.Here I have made roast parsnips, roast brussel sprouts and steamed broccoli to go with the lamb.