What’s more Australian than roast lamb? Mum’s Sunday roast is one of my favourite childhood memories. It was a large leg of lamb surrounded by a heap of roast root vegies, with boiled peas, beans, cauliflower and broccoli on the side. It seemed to take all afternoon to prepare and was ample to feed the horde that always descended on our house for Sunday dinner. These days, family groups are often smaller, and time scarcer, so here’s my parred back version of Mum’s lamb roast. For my mustard-crusted roast lamb, I use the tender middle part of a boned out leg (sold as a mini-roast), which cooks quickly and is easy to slice neatly. Cutting the potatoes into bite-sized pieces means they cook quicker too, and the extra surface area gives more crunch. It’s hard to beat an Aussie cabernet with this dish – I particularly enjoy Voyager Estate’s Cabernet Merlot, with just a splash of merlot and petit verdot to round out the cabernet.
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- Salt flakes, to taste
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped oregano
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
- 650g lamb mini-roast
- 1kg potatoes, peeled
- 2 red onions, peeled
- 1 lemon, zest finely grated
- 300g baby spinach leaves
- 400g canned cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
Method
- Whisk garlic, mustard, 2 teaspoons of salt, half of the oregano and half of the oil together.
- Place lamb in a baking dish, rub the oil mixture all over it. Cover and set aside for 20-30 minutes to come to room temperature.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 220°C.
- Cut potatoes into bite-sized pieces and onions into thin slivers. Toss with lemon zest, salt, remaining oil and remaining oregano and place in the baking dish around the lamb.
- Place lamb in the oven and cook for about 40 minutes for medium (until the internal temperature registers 65°C on a meat thermometer), or until cooked to your liking.
- Meanwhile, heat a large frying pan over low heat. Add a drizzle of oil, spinach and 2 tablespoons of water. Cover and cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring often, until wilted.
- Add beans and salt and stir for a minute or so to heat beans through. Remove from heat, cover pan and set aside to keep warm.
- Remove lamb from the baking dish, cover loosely with foil and set aside in a warm place.
- Increase oven to 250°C, stir potato and onion mixture well and return to the oven for 10-15 minutes, until potatoes are crisp and golden.
- Arrange potato and spinach mixtures on a platter.
- Slice the roast lamb, place on top and serve.
