Recipes

This recipe for lamb from Northfield Farm combines the lamb with the Mediterranean flavours of peppers, Feta cheese and pulses. Use whatever you fancy - haricot beans are good here, but chickpeas and flageolet work well too.

    1 whole leg or shoulder of lamb, boned but left untied, about 2-2.5 kg
    3 tbsp olive oil
    Salt, pepper and oregano or marjoram
    1 bottle red wine
    2 red and 2 yellow peppers, stems and seeds removed and cut in thin strips
    200g Feta cheese, crumbled
    50g grated Parmesan
    - - -
    3-4 onions
    4-6 peppers, seeded and cut into strips
    2-3 cans pulses - flageolets, chickpeas or haricot beans
    1 can chopped tomatoes, or 6 very ripe chopped tomatoes
    1 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
    1/2 tsp sugar

Method

Open out the leg or shoulder of meat, skin side down.  Season well with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with oregano or marjoram.  Sprinkle with olive oil and about 100ml red wine.   Spread the cheeses all over, then the pepper strips.   Either roll and tie your joint as neatly as possible, or use a number of metal skewers to hold the edges together.

Peel and quarter 3-4 medium onions and place in a roasting pan.  Put the joint of lamb on top, skin side up, and rub well with olive oil, salt and pepper, and sprinkle with about 1 teaspoon dried oregano or marjoram.   Place in a pre-heated oven  220°C/Gas 7 for 20 minutes to seal.  

Pour over about ½ a bottle of red wine (approx 450-500 ml) and cover tightly with a double layer of foil, sealing the edges well.  Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C/Gas 3 and cook for 1.5 - 2 hours, depending on size of joint.  

Remove from the oven, and surround the joint with 4-6 peppers.  Turn the peppers  in the juices, and return to a hotter oven (200°C/Gas 5) for another 45 minutes or so until the peppers are cooked and starting to brown.

Lift the meat onto a serving platter, cover with a double thickness of foil, then top with a couple of tea towels to keep the meat warm while it rests.  Either scoop out all of the peppers and onions into a serving dish to accompany the lamb, and make your gravy out of the remaining juices in the pan (if you do not like beans). Or: Add 2-3 cans of drained haricot beans or flageolet beans or chick peas (or a mixture to your taste), chopped tomatoes, balsamic vinegar or lemon juice, sugar and more salt and pepper as required to the peppers, onions and juices in the pan.  Give them a good stir and put back in the oven for 30 minutes or so to heat through.  

Serve with thick slices of your lamb, olive oil and garlic roast potatoes and something green.