Baked Stuffed Leg of Lamb

This lovely recipe is a marriage between two favourite recipes, Italian Stuffed Lamb from Jamie’s Italy and Delia’s Braised Lamb Shanks with Cannellini Beans from How To Cook, Book Three.

I picked up a small boned leg of lamb on offer, and knew that these two recipes would be the perfect way to cook it.  I’ve adapted the recipes to suit my needs, and the cooking time to suit the size of joint I have.

To suit my one and a half pound (750g) joint I used :

For the stuffing : 

3 thick slices of stale bread

1 anchovy

1tsp pine nuts

1 clove garlic

1 small sprig rosemary

1dsp chopped fresh mint and parsley (or 1tsp of dried)

For the roasting tin : 

2 large baking potatoes

1 large carrot

2oz dried cannellini beans (soaked overnight in water)

Approximately ½ bottle of red wine (you may or may not need it all)

To make the stuffing, simply pop everything into the food processor and blitz.  Wash and dry the lamb joint, and then push the stuffing into the boned cavity.  If necessary, you can make the hole a little bigger by cutting at it with a small sharp knife..  Rub all over with a little olive oil and season with a little salt and pepper.  Place in the roasting tin.

Peel and cut the potato and carrot into large chunks.  Drain and rinse the cannellini beans.  Arrange around the lamb joint in the roasting tin.  Pour over a tablespoon or so of the red wine.

Put the lamb into a hot oven (230^oC / 450^oF / gas mark 8) for 30 minutes.  After the initial cooking time, turn the oven down to 180^oC (350^oF / gas mark 4) and give it 30 minutes per pound of weight.

Baste the joint with the half bottle of wine, a tablespoon or so at a time, every half an hour until the lamb and the vegetables are cooked.

As the meat is cooked with carrots, potatoes and beans, you will simply need a green vegetable on the side.  I cooked a small sweetheart cabbage with mine.

If you want to try the original recipes, there are links below to help you locate them.

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/main-ingredient/pulses/braised-lamb-shanks-with-cannellini-beans.html 

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/lamb-recipes/leg-of-lamb-stuffed-with-olives-bread-pine-nuts-and-herbs-cosciotto-d-agnello-ripieno-di-olive-pane-pinoli-e-erbe-aromatiche