Lamborama! – Leg of Wicklow Spring Lamb with Bright Vegetables

I like a nice bit of leg. Lamb leg that is. Not that I don’t admire a nicely turned ankle. But, this is not the place to discuss such things. And, as a small aside, I had my own pins described recently as “I’ve seen better legs on a snooker table”. I will save you the need to pass comment here on all matters leg related except for the spring lamb.

Knowing that I was going to get my hands on a nice leg of Wicklow Spring Lamb, I got to thinking about what I could do to amuse you my friends, my dinner guests and of course, myself. In the leg steaks (or is that leg stakes), I’ve previously cooked lamb with garlic and rosemary, barbecued butterflied leg of lamb and more recently presented the long marinated Indian lamb. I wanted to do something different and of my own devising. So I present you with Leg of Wicklow Spring Lamb with Bright Vegetables.

I know that it’s a daft name for a dish but you have to understand why. It’s May in Ireland and everywhere else, probably. Spring came very late this year and as a result, so did the spring lamb. The weather has been cold and wet and I needed something to brighten up my day. So I went for some colour to go with the delicious lamb. The lamb was pretty straightforward. I mixed some English mustard powder with lemon juice and balsamic vinegar.

Mustard, lemon juice and balsamic vinegar combined to add a nice bit of flavour.

This was painted on to the leg of lamb.

My youngest would use this in place of fake tan given half a chance.

I then placed this in a 200º C oven for 15 minutes then turned down to  180º C for 30 minutes. During that 30 minutes, I chopped the vegetables into nice chunky sized pieces. I was using sweet potatoes, mixed peppers, red onions, French beans, aubergine and small tomatoes. The tomatoes did not need any chopping. I also had a nice bunch of thyme. Thyme reminds me that it is time to show the vegetable photos.

Here’s most of the vegetables chopped (except the aubergine as it would go brown)

I mixed the sweet potato with the thyme and olive oil. Time for a shot of that.

I love taking photos of vegetables. I reckon there are lots of portrait photographers who feel the same way.

These were placed under the lamb at the 60 minute mark. I also added a couple of cloves of garlic. This was roasted for another 30 minutes. With 20 minutes to go, I added the other vegetables in another tray.

These were drizzled with olive oil, seasoned and thrown in the oven.

The only thing held out is the tomatoes. They only need to go in for 5 or 10 minutes. The lamb comes out first as it needs to rest.

If you don’t like this shot, you must be a vegetarian or an idiot. Or both.

The lamb was wrapped in foil for 15 minutes before carving.

Spring lamb must not be over cooked. It is beautiful when pink in colour.

I poured off some of the juice from the vegetables and some of the juice that leaked from the lamb as it rested. This is my gravy. I poured it over the dish when it was served.

You can see why I named it Leg of Wicklow Lamb with Bright Vegetables.

One last shot because you know you want to ogle my leg, as it were. Snooker table indeed!

I love the single clove garlic bulbs. They give a big burst of garlic flavour. Lovely with lamb.