Five Hour Lamb
By guera on Jun 14, 2008 in Featured, Main Meals | 
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You know when you find a recipe that is so incredibly yummy and easy to make and perfect for entertaining a crowd, you want to have people over all the time just to have an excuse to make it?
This is one of those recipes for me. I discovered it when we were running the ski chalet in France years ago and it became my favourite recipe for the week. It’s a Jamie Oliver invention that requires a leg of lamb, a bottle of white wine, a few herbs and vegies and a bit of forward planning. It braises in a slow oven for 5 hours until the meat is tender and the vegies are infused with the wine and lamb flavour. Apart from the divine taste what I love about this recipe is that after 5 hours cooking the meat just falls off the bone so there’s no tricky carving (and a leg of lamb goes a lot further if you’re budget conscious). It fills your house with beautiful aromas for most of the day – a perfect greeting for guests when they arrive, plus there’s no last minute preparation. It’s hearty and filling and perfect for a winter’s evening.
1 large leg lamb
salt and freshly ground pepper
olive oil
6 rashers bacon, roughly chopped
3 red onions, peeled and quartered
3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
2 good handfuls of mixed fresh herbs (thyme, rosemary, bay)
4 large potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
6 large carrots, scrubbed and halved
3 parsnips, scrubbed and halved
1 bottle white winePreheat the oven to 170C/325F. In a large casserole pot or a deep-sided roasting tray, fry your well-seasoned lamb in a couple of good lugs of olive oil until brown on all sides. Add the bacon, onions and garlic and continue to fry for 3 more minutes. Throw in your herbs and vegies (you can substitute any root vegetables for the ones listed above), pour in the wine and an equivalent amount of water (750ml), bring to the boil, and tightly cover with aluminium foil or a lid if your casserole dish has it.
Bake in the pre-heated oven for 5 hours until tender, seasoning the cooking liquid to taste. To serve, pull away a nice portion of meat, take a selection of vegies and serve with some crusty bread to mop up the gravy.
As you can see from my photo above, I often leave the potatoes out of the casserole and serve with mashed potato. The ultimate comfort food!
Enjoy!
Gorgeous! Just the ticket for the weather round here at the moment, its cold, wet and windy. I am preparing for my parents coming over for a visit and I need to get organised with the cooking. Mum and I love to cook together but I don’t want us to spend too much time shopping or in the kitchen so slow cooked meals like this are ideal.
Super Sarah (3 comments.) | Jun 14, 2008 | Reply
Yum! I’ve just bought myself a casserole dish and have been making lots of yummy things. Casseroles are the best thing in Winter when I have a full afternoon of after-school activities – I can pop one of these in the oven during the day and it’s ready to eat when we walk back in the door at 7pm.
M | Jun 14, 2008 | Reply
This is a superb dish, and I have used it many times, However, I made the mistake of `lending` it out, and my friend has very sensibly kept it for herself! I`m glad to hve the whole recipe, as having a forgettory I miss out some ingredients if I try to rely on my memory. Thankyou for finding it for me. Sheila.
Sheila Parker(new comment) | May 3, 2009 | Reply