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Roast leg of lamb with garlic & watercress butter

Roast leg of lamb with garlic & watercress butter served on a serving plate

Roast leg of lamb with garlic & watercress butter

Name: Roast leg of lamb with garlic & watercress butter
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h 40 min
Total time: 2 h 10 min
Yield: Serves 6-8
Ingredients: 2kg bone-in leg of lamb; 100g watercress; 3 large garlic cloves crushed; 4 anchovy fillets in oil, drained and finely chopped; 70g unsalted butter softened; 3 rosemary sprigs; 100g sourdough bread torn; ½ tbsp olive oil; 30g finely grated parmesan

Esther Clark

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Serves 6-8

Easy

Prep: 30 mins

Cook: 1 hr and 40 mins

plus resting

A star rating of 4.2 out of 5.5 ratingsRate

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Season a leg of lamb with our watercress and garlic butter for a new take on spring lamb. Parmesan breadcrumbs also add a lovely crunch and depth of flavour

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Ingredients

Nutrition

Units:

MetricUS

2kg bone-in leg of lamb
100g watercress
3 large garlic cloves

crushed
4 anchovy fillets

in oil, drained and finely chopped
70g unsalted butter

softened
3 rosemary

sprigs

For the crumb

100g sourdough bread

torn
½ tbsp olive oil
30g finely grated parmesan

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Nutrition: Per serving (8)

kcal436
fat27g
saturates14g
carbs7g
sugars1g
fibre1g
protein40g
salt0.7g

Method

step 1

Remove the lamb from the fridge 1 hr before cooking. Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 4. Use the tip of a knife to make 20-25 small slits in the lamb, then set aside in a roasting tin. Blitz the watercress, garlic and anchovies in a food processor until smooth, then add the butter and pulse to combine.
step 2

Season the lamb, then spread over half of the butter mixture, pushing into the slits as well. Break the rosemary sprigs into pieces and tuck into the slits. Season, cover with foil and cook for 1 hr 20 mins for medium (a thermometer should read 55C), or 1 hr 40 mins, if you prefer the meat well done. Uncover the lamb halfway through cooking and spread over the remaining butter, then put back in the oven uncovered for the remaining time.
step 3

Meanwhile, blitz the sourdough in a food processor to make coarse crumbs. Toss with the oil and parmesan and spread out flat on a baking sheet. Put in the oven underneath the lamb for the last 20 mins of cooking, or until lightly golden and crunchy. Leave the lamb to rest, covered, for 30 mins, then slice and sprinkle over the crumbs.

RECIPE TIPS

SIMPLE SWAP

If you don’t like the peppery flavour of watercress, swap it out for the same quantity of soft herbs, such as flat-leaf parsley.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, April 2020

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A star rating of 4.2 out of 5.5 ratings

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