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Ingredients

  • 1 large leg of lamb about 3kg/6lb 8oz
  • 4 onions, sliced
  • 8 garlic cloves, peeled, but left whole
  • 4 carrots, leave whole if small or quarter lengthways
  • 300ml white wine
  • 300ml stock, use what you have
  • 2 tbsp Armagnac or Madeira, optional, to finish
  • thyme sprigs, to finish

Method

  • STEP 1

    Heat oven to 120C/fan 100C/gas ½. Put your largest lidded casserole on the hob and brown the seasoned leg of lamb on all sides - do this very thoroughly until it is a good dark brown as it will not brown during the cooking. (If you don't do it now, it will end up beige.) If the lamb sticks, add a drizzle of oil - legs of lamb differ. Allow 10 mins on a high heat and put on the cooker fan to remove the smoke. Pour away any fat that has collected in the bottom of the pan.

  • STEP 2

    Throw in the vegetables, followed by the wine and stock. Season and bring to the boil, then clap on the lid and put in the oven. Bake for 7 hrs, turning twice. After 5 hrs the meat will be cooked and offer no resistance to the knife.

  • STEP 3

    There is no need to rest the meat when cooked in this way, but to finish the sauce, transfer the meat and vegetables to a serving dish. Strain the sauce into a jug and pour or blot away the fat with kitchen paper. Pour the sauce into a pan then boil the liquid hard to reduce by a quarter, by which time it will be rich and flavoursome. Adjust seasoning, add the Armagnac if you wish, and serve alongside the lamb, which should be served with a spoon, a la cuillère as the French call it.

Goes well with

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A star rating of 4.7 out of 5.95 ratings
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