Simplest Roast Ever
- Serves:
- 4
- Preparation time:
- 5
- Cooking time:
- 1¼ hrs
Ingredients
- ½ shoulder New Zealand lamb- chilled, or thawed if frozen (see tip)
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tbsp. garlic purée
- 2 tsp. anchovy paste (see Hints and Tips)
- 900g/2 lb. new potatoes, halved is large
- 8 small tomatoes-the riper the better
- 1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- handful fresh basil leaves to garnish (optional), and crusty bread to serve
Method
1. Preheat oven to 190º/375º/Gas Mark 5. Check label or weigh the joint and calculate cooking time at 25 minutes per 450g/1 lb plus 25 minutes. Put the joint into a large roasting tin. Season with salt.
2. Put potatoes and tomatoes around the meat. Drizzle the balsamic vinegar and olive oil over the potatoes and tomatoes and season with salt and black pepper. Roast for the calculated cooking time, basting the joint occasionally with any fat that comes from the meat.
3. Mix together the garlic purée and anchovy paste. Half way through the cooking time spread garlic and anchovy mixture over top of lamb and season well with black pepper. This will form a lovely crust when cooked.
4. When lamb is cooked, take it out of the oven and leave to rest for 10 minutes before serving. The potatoes should be golden and cooked through and the tomatoes softened and tinged brown. Serve with basil leaves scattered on top (optional) and with crusty bread to mop up the juices.
Tips and hints
- You can buy both garlic purée and anchovy paste in the supermarket. Kept in the fridge they last for ages. Don't worry about the anchovy making things fishy-it just adds a delicious 'savoury' flavour. Believe it or not, anchovy essence is one of the chief ingredients in Worcestershire sauce!
- If using frozen meat allow about 5 minutes per 450g/1 lb for speedy thawing in the microwave.
