NEW YEAR RECIPE: Spice Rubbed Roast Leg of Lamb

Continuing our series of 'festive roasts with a difference' we thought we'd experiment with the spice rack with this delicious, middle eastern inspired rub. Applied to our wonderful, regenerative leg of lamb.

It's a great flavourful, spicy (but not too much) alternative.

Shop our leg of lamb HERE

Ingredients

2-2.5kg lamb leg (bone in)
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 tsp sweet paprika
3 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp dried chilli flakes
5cm piece (25g) ginger, finely grated
4 x garlic cloves, crushed
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

160ml olive oil
400g orange cherry tomatoes on the vine (substitute red cherry tomatoes)

Method

Place the lamb on an ovenproof rack over a large roasting pan lined with baking paper. Using the tip of a sharp knife, make several 8cm-long scores in the lamb.

Combine spices, ginger, garlic, lemon zest, oil and 2 tsp salt flakes in a bowl. Rub spice mix into lamb, then chill overnight or for at least 4 hours.

One hour before roasting, remove the lamb from fridge until it's at room temperature. Preheat oven to 200°C.

Roast the lamb for 30 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 170°C and roast for a further 35 minutes for medium-rare. Add tomatoes to the pan for the last 20 minutes of lamb cooking time, drizzling with some of the cooking juices. Once lamb is cooked, remove from oven, cover with baking paper and foil, and set aside for 20-30 minutes to rest.

Carve the rested lamb into slices and serve with roasted tomatoes.