Recipes

Chosen from European Festival Food by Elisabeth Luard. A great lamb recipe for when you have a big group of friends arriving for an informal supper.

Serves 6-8

    1 leg of lamb, weighing 2.5kg (5lb) on the bone, chopped through to the bone in 6-8 places
    150ml (¼ pint) olive oil
    Salt and pepper
    4-5 garlic cloves, skinned and halved
    1 handful rosemary sprigs
    1.5kg (3lb) old potatoes, peeled and quartered
    1 tbsp oregano
    1 glass water
    Juice of 1 lemon

Method

Rub the meat well with 2 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper. Slip some of the garlic and bits of rosemary into the gaps between the meat and the bone.

Pour 1 tbsp into a large roasting tin and put in the meat, potatoes and the rest of the garlic and rosemary. Sprinkle with more salt and pepper, the remaining oil, the oregano, the water and the juice of the lemon. Cover in foil (in rural Greece, this might still be a bed and blanket of vine twigs).

Cook in the oven at a high heat 200C/400F/gas 6 for the first 15 minutes. Then turn the oven down to 150C/300F/gas 2 and leave to braise gently for two hours at least. Uncover for the last 30 minutes to brown the meat and the tips of the potatoes. Sprinkle in more water as needed.

Serve with quartered lemons, bread and a salad of bitter leaves - radicchio and dandelion are favourites.

For more on British Lamb, including places to buy, eat and learn, visit Little Green Book of British Lamb