Plans to share a hefty leg of lamb with friends on Sunday were scuppered when the Easter Bunny delivered a pernicious virus with the chocolate. Dire. Not wanting to share this particularly nasty strain of love, we invited our guests to stay away, and not surprisingly they accepted. But despite the sore throats and hellish coughs, we still had our appetites and the lamb needed eating, so into the oven it went.
Normally our go-to cut of lamb for Sunday lunch is a sinewy shoulder, cooked long and slow until tender enough to carve with a spoon. But we had wanted something different for this occasion. Perhaps it’s because a leg of lamb needs proper carving that had made it appealingly appropriate for this special feast; pink slices ceremoniously plated rather than guests helping themselves to shreds from a communal platter.
We took Heston’s lead and stuffed rosemary, anchovy and milk-simmered garlic into incisions in the leg, then cooked the lamb in alarmingly low oven (80°C) for 4.5 hours or so until the meat thermometer read 55°C. Even for those of us with virus-addled taste buds this was sublime. With dauphinoise potatoes, goodness me. And with only 4 of us instead of the intended ten, it seemed like the deliciousness would never end. There were thin slices of pink lamb on sourdough toast for supper alongside a crisp watercress salad, and the next day we made 2 trays of shepherd’s pie (one for lunch and one for the freezer). Quite excited about how many meals we could stretch from the one leg (yes, we had gone stir-crazy by this stage) we also made up a really rich and tasty stock from the lamb bones and shank.
Soothing and full of flavour
The pearl barley in this dish makes it especially soothing, but it really is a showcase for the stock so I’m not sure I’d bother if I only had a cube. I made mine with a handful of dried porcini tossed into the gently simmering water along with the lamb bones, roughly chopped veg and aromatics. If you don’t have any home-made lamb stock, use good quality bought with some porcini added to boost the flavour. If you do make your own be sure to skim off any fat and/or strain through muslin or double sheet of kitchen roll or the stock will be unappealing and fatty. One final thought: this dish is intensely flavoured and actually quite rich (or will be if your stock is good), so if you prefer something lighter, leave out the goat’s cheese.
Pearl barley risotto with lamb broth, asparagus and black pudding
Serves 2
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 tablespoon butter
- 2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
- 1/2 star anise
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 100g pearl barley
- About 850ml top quality hot lamb stock
- 150g asparagus spears, cut into 1.5cm lengths
- 30g crumbly goat’s cheese
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- 1 thick slice black pudding, roughly chopped
- a handful of pea shoots, to serve
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