Roasted Leg of Lamb with Shallots & White Beans

Introduction

This dish is a winner. The gravy gets a fabulous flavour from roasted shallots, the sausages imbued with the shallot and meat juices, are a surprise, and make the meat go further, and the lamb is a doddle to carve.

Serves: 8 or more

Ingredients

2.3 - 2.5 kg (around 5 lb) leg of lamb
2 large cloves garlic, peeled and cut into slivers
2 small stems of rosemary
8 quality pork sausages (I used Pokeno Pure Pork sausages, and a few fresh chorizo)
500g (1 lb) shallots, peeled
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 x 400g (14 oz) cans white beans (cannellini or butter beans), rinsed and drained
2 Tbsp standard flour
375ml (12-13 fl oz) light stock or vegetable water
Butter

Method

1 Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F). Wipe lamb with paper towels and remove any loose fat. Make deep slits in meaty parts and push in pieces of garlic and tufts of rosemary. Transfer lamb to a large roasting dish and surround with sausages and shallots. Everything should fit comfortably without too much overlapping. Season lamb with salt and pepper and drizzle everything with oil.

2 Roast lamb for 1¼ hours, turning lamb after 30 minutes, then over again after 15 minutes, and shallots and sausages as necessary; if sausages or shallots are ready before the lamb, transfer to a plate and keep warm. Remove lamb to a board and cover loosely with tin foil. Transfer sausages and shallots to a small dish and keep warm.

3 Put white beans in a saucepan. Tilt roasting dish and scoop off fat. Put roasting dish over a medium heat and stir in flour, then stock. Bring to the boil, stirring, season with a little salt, then taste and add more salt if necessary (it should taste delicious!). Add two tablespoons of gravy to white beans, along with a large nut of butter and a good sprinkling of salt and generous turn or two of the peppermill. Heat beans gently while slicing the lamb. Transfer the remaining gravy to a small saucepan, cover with a lid and bring to a gentle bubble just before serving.

4 Slice lamb thinly. Put white beans with juices on a heated platter and arrange lamb, sausages and shallots on top. Pour over gravy, garnish with a sprig of rosemary and serve.

Recipe Notes

If you want to use a ‘carvery’ leg of lamb – a partially boned leg that is easy to carve – reduce the cooking time to 1 hour, remove lamb to a board, increase oven temperature to 220°C (425°F) and return the shallots and sausages to the oven to caramelize.

Use quality, meaty sausages. Cheap, fatty sausages will ruin the dish.