Roast lamb is how most families across the southern Balkans who celebrate Easter break the Lenten fast. Špikovanje (larding) is a technique I first came across watching my grandmother prepare lamb for our Easter Sunday feast. It is a technique often used in the Balkans for roasting meat. Though traditionally the term means inserting little strips of smoked pork or lard in (often lean) meat to flavour it during roasting, in the Balkans the term is also used more generally to describe flavouring different cuts of meat in other ways, mainly by using a variety of vegetables and aromatic herbs. I always thought of it as making little secret pockets bursting with flavour all over the meat. My grandmother’s favoured pocket fillers – especially for lamb – were garlic, carrots and parsley and she often used a mustard rub over roasting joints for extra punch. This tender, slow roast leg of lamb is very much inspired by her. Serve with roast potatoes – I often add the potatoes to roast alongside the lamb in the last hour or so of cooking, or you could use some of the rendered lamb fat and cooking juices and roast them separately.

Serves 6-8.

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Ingredients

  • 1 leg of lamb, approximately 2-3kg

  • 1 whole head of garlic, cloves separated and peeled, half the garlic cloves sliced into small batons approximately 1-1.5cm long and 0.5cm wide, the rest kept whole

  • 2-3 medium sized carrots, peeled and 1 carrot sliced into small batons approximately 1-1.5cm long and 0.5cm wide, the rest sliced into 10cm batons

  • 40g fresh parsley (leaves picked and stalks reserved)

  • 2 medium sized onions or banana shallots, peeled and quartered

  • 1 leek (optional), washed, sliced in half lengthwise, then sliced into 10cm batons

  • 2-3 sprigs of rosemary

  • 2-3 sprigs of thyme

  • 1-2 bay leaves

  • 1 tbsp flaked sea salt

  • 1 tsp ground black pepper

  • 2 tbsp Dijon mustard

  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

  • 500 ml chicken or vegetable stock

  • 150-200 ml dry white wine

  • 1 tbsp plain flour (optional)

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Directions

  • Preheat the oven to 170C (fan) / Gas Mark 5. Place your lamb on a large chopping board and prepare it by trimming some of the excess fat and sinew. Pat the meat dry with a paper kitchen towel and rub the meat with 1/2 tsp of the salt. With a sharp knife make 2cm deep incisions every 2-3cm all over the lamb against the grain of the meat.
  • Take one small baton each of garlic and carrot, and one parsley leaf and insert them into an incision in the lamb. They should go all the way in and not stick out else they will fall out as the lamb cooks and naturally shrinks. Repeat for all the incisions you have made in the lamb.
  • Next place the whole garlic cloves, large carrot batons, parsley stalks (and any remaining small batons of garlic and carrot, and parsley leaves from flavouring the lamb), onions, leek, rosemary, thyme, and bay in the middle of a large deep-sided roasting tin. Place the lamb upside down over the vegetables and aromatics.
  • In a small bowl, combine the rest of the salt, black pepper, mustard, and olive oil and mix into a paste. With a pastry brush (or equivalent), gently rub the paste over the whole surface of the lamb.
  • Add half the stock (250ml) and all the wine to the roasting tin. Cover the lamb first with baking parchment (this stops it sticking to the foil and keeps the moisture in) and then cover tightly with foil and roast in the oven for about 1.5-2 hours. Remove from the oven and baste the lamb with the cooking juices, then return to the oven uncovered and roast for a further 30 minutes or until it is nicely browned. Next remove it from the oven again and turn the leg of lamb over so that it is facing the right way up and the side that was over the vegetables and aromatics is facing upwards. If there is not enough moisture in the roasting tray, add some more stock and a further splash of wine. Baste then cover the lamb with the baking parchment and foil again and continue roasting for a further 1.5 – 2 hours, checking periodically and basting it in the cooking juices. Next uncover the lamb and roast uncovered for a further 20-30 minutes or until it is nicely browned. The lamb should roast for a total of 5-6 hours until the meat is practically falling off the bone. Transfer the lamb to a serving dish and let it rest (covered) for 30-40 minutes before carving.
  • After you have removed the lamb from the roasting dish and set it aside to rest, add a splash of wine to the roasting tin to deglaze it, then pour the cooking juices from the roasting tin through a sieve into a small saucepan. Allow the juices to settle and cool then skim any excess lamb fat or oil from the top (you can use this for roast potatoes), leaving a cloudy herby liquid in place. This is your gravy. Place the saucepan with the gravy over a medium heat and add the flour, stirring to combine for 1 minute. Then slowly add the rest of the stock, stirring constantly to avoid lumps and increase the heat to bring it to the boil. As soon as it boils, reduce the heat back to medium, and keep stirring until the gravy thickens to your liking. Serve the gravy with the lamb.