AS THE leaves start to turn, and cosy evenings follow crispy sunny days, this season is the time to perfect the ultimate Autumn dish - the Aussie Lamb roast.
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Now we've all got a bit more time to spend in the kitchen, renowned chef of Three Blue Ducks, Darren Robertson, shares his favourite roast recipe, cooked from his home in Byron.
Darren combines seasonal favourites and fresh flavours with his roast lamb leg, serving melt in the mouth butternut pumpkin, a herb and pepita packed yoghurt dressing and a zingy watermelon salad.
"For me and my family, an Aussie leg of lamb is my one of my favourite Autumn dishes. Lamb is so versatile and goes with lots of flavours, so I wanted to create a recipe with ingredients Aussies can easily swap out for what they've got at home," Darren said.
"I love delicious flavour of roast lamb, so a simple marinade is all you need. I used a mix of lemon, fresh herbs and garlic, but you could get creative and use what you've got in the spice cupboard - cumin, coriander, fennel and black pepper work well, or add some zing with chilli and grated ginger.
"When it comes to sides, you can use up what you've already got. You can't go wrong with classic roast potatoes, but you can use any veggies you like - carrots, cauliflower or beetroot!"
Darren Robertson's roast lamb leg, butternut pumpkin with yoghurt dressing & watermelon salad
Serves: 4 Cooking time: 1 hour 45 mins
Ingredients
- 1 x 1.5kg lamb leg (room temp)
- 3 cloves garlic (grated)
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 half small butternut pumpkin
- 1 sweet potato peeled and roughly
- chopped
- Pinch smoked paprika
- 2 handfuls of mixed herbs (bay leaves,
- rosemary, oregano, parsley all work well)
- - leave some aside some for the dressing
- Zest of 1 lemon
- I tsp honey
Yogurt dressing
- 1 tsp of the remaining lamb marinade mix
- 1 tbsp chopped roasted pepita
- 6 tbsp yogurt
Water melon, tomato and radish salad
- A 100g piece of water melon (peeled)
- Half a lime
- 1 handful picked coriander leaves
- 1 handful picked mint leaves
- 1 Lebanese cucumber peeled
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Half a jalapeno chili (if desired)
- 6 baby red radishes (washed)
- 1 vine of tomatoes
Method
1. Preheat oven to 200 °C
2. Chop the herbs and mix with the garlic, lemon zest, olive oil, paprika and a pinch of salt and pepper.
3. Pop the lamb, pumpkin and sweet potato in a roasting tray.
4. Gently pierce the fat of the lamb leg then cover in the marinade. Dress the pumpkin and sweet potato with the same marinade and drizzle a little honey over the pumpkin. Leave a tsp of the marinade for the yogurt sauce.
5. Cook the lamb for 1 hour 15 mins for medium rare or 1 hour 30 mins for medium.
6. Remove lamb, pumpkin and sweet potato from the oven, take out of the tray and rest the lamb for 20 minutes. Deglaze the tray with the yogurt and leftover marinade mix, season with a little lemon juice, add pepitas and pour into a bowl.
7. For the salad, wash the radishes and cut them into quarters, dice the watermelon, chop the cucumber into irregular shapes and remove the eye from the tomato and roughly dice. If you like heat, then add very thinly sliced jalapenos. Mix all ingredients into a good size bowl, season with a little salt, pepper, lime juice and olive oil. Add the herbs, toss and serve.
8. Carve the lamb against the grain. Serve up with veggies, yogurt sauce and salad. That's it!
Tips
. It's important to pierce the lamb to let the marinade do its magic.
. Bringing the lamb up to room temperature will allow for an even cook.
. Feel free to replace veggies and herbs with whatever you have available.
. Use up your leftover lamb in sandwiches with mustard and pickles or toss through a beetroot rocket and hazelnut salad. For more leftover lamb recipe ideas visit https://www.australianlamb.com.au/recipe-collections/leftoverlamb-recipes/
