Recipe: Moroccan Spiced Leg of Lamb

Today, as part of my Movement Control Order activity, I decided to make a Moroccan Spiced Leg of Lamb. This is loosely based on Gordon Ramsay’s recipe which was transcribed onto this imgur album.

I made a few mistakes when making it but they were pleasant mistakes. Due to this, my recipe differs slightly from the one in the above album.

Ingredients:

Lamb – Leg (I used around 2KG)

Spices:

• 2 tbsp Turmeric Powder
• 2 tbsp Smoked Paprika
• 2 tbsp Cayenne Pepper
• 2 tbsp Ground Cinnamon
• A pinch of Pink Himalayan Salt
• A few sprinkles of Cracked Black Peppercorns
• Dried Thyme
• Olive Oil
• Honey

Root Vegetable Pairings:

• 3 Potatoes
• 2 Carrots
• Olive Oil
• A sprinkle of Dried Thyme
• 2 Bay Leaves
• 2 Cloves of Garlic

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 200C.
2. Mix all the spice blend ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the olive oil and honey last. What you get will be a paste of sorts (ref above).
3. Make some incisions with a sharp knife in the thickest parts of the lamb. If you have cinnamon sticks (which I didn’t have), you can put them in these holes.
4. While letting the lamb marinate in the paste, prepare the vegetables. Peel and cut the potatoes and carrots into small pieces.
5. Mix them with olive oil, garlic and bay leaves.
6. Place them at the bottom of your baking dish of choice. (Make sure it is big enough to fit the lamb!)
7. Place the marinated lamb on top of the vegetable ensemble.
8. Sprinkle a bit of thyme on top for that extra crisp.
9. Cover with tin foil and put in the oven for 45 minutes.
10. Check on it to make sure it is cooked. If not, keep putting it back in with 15-minute intervals. To know if it is cooked, make a small but deep incision to the bone and look at the colour. Dark purple or too pink means it could use more time in the oven. A little bit of pink is alright. Think of it like a rare steak.
11. When the lamb is pretty much cooked through, take off the tin foil. Turn the oven from Bake to Roast and char that leg until some of the vegetables develop a bit of blackness to it. Be careful not to burn!
12. Now, let the leg sit for about 10-15 minutes and start carving your way through it.
13. Serve with Mint Jelly or Mustard.