Roast Rosemary Lamb with Garlic and Tomatoes
A piece of meat slowly roasted to perfection, with fresh herbs, garlic and vegetables is the essence of my mother's cuisine. The fragrant smell teases me for hours while the roast is cooking, the depth of the meat's taste, the rich sauce of juices mixed with seasonings is the most comfortable cooking that can happen in a kitchen!
When I saw this leg of lamb I made a quick decision, roast lamb for dinner! Thinking of my mother's famous Sunday lunches, I also packed lots of garlic and tomatoes in my shopping basket as I had a Mediterranean style roast in mind. I also bought a bunch of rosemary as my plant looks rather sad at the moment. I planted it in a pot together with mint and that wasn't a good idea. The roots of peppermint plants spread into every corner of the pot, there's no soil left for my poor rosemary. If you ever decide to plant rosemary and mint together, leave the mint plant in a plastic pot before you put it in soil, this stops the roots from spreading (I got this tip from a lady with a green thumb at the market). My big thyme plant is the complete opposite, it looks as fresh and green as it should (in its own pot). That's the second herb in this recipe to add flavour to the meat.
Back home, I made a thick marinade with 2 tablespoons of each of the herbs and a little crushed garlic. I mixed it with lots of olive oil and rubbed it into the leg of lamb. You could keep it in the fridge like that for a day or two, but we were hungry, so I added two whole garlic bulbs and 5 large tomatoes, all cut in half and cooked the meat in the oven for a bit more than an hour. The meat was perfect, juicy and soft, and the tomatoes and garlic were almost caramelized. They were dark on the outside but sweet inside and thickened the juices which was simply divine! Fruity, oily and fragrant!
Roast Rosemary Lamb with Garlic and Tomatoes
For 3-4 people you need
leg of lamb, with the bone, 1.5kg / 3.5 pounds
olive oil 70ml / 2.5 ounces
fresh rosemary, chopped, 2 tablespoons plus 5 small sprigs
thyme, chopped, 2 tablespoons
garlic bulbs, cut in half, 2 plus 1 big clove, crushed, for the marinade
large tomatoes, cut in half, 5
salt and pepper
Set the oven to 180°C / 355°F (I used the Rotitherm setting).
Put the leg of lamb into a roasting tin. Arrange the tomatoes (cut side down) and garlic (cut side up) next to the meat. Mix the oil, crushed garlic clove and herbs, rub into the meat and sprinkle a bit over the tomatoes and garlic bulbs. Put the rosemary sprigs under and next to the meat. Season everything with salt and pepper and cook in the oven for 75 minutes, turn the garlic around after 45 minutes, pour the juices over the meat once or twice while it's cooking.
When the meat is done, wrap the roast leg in aluminum foil for 5 minutes.
Cut up the meat and serve with the roast tomatoes and garlic. You could have some potatoes on the side but we enjoyed it with a fresh white French loaf which was perfect to scrape the tasty juices out of the pan.
