Mary Berry’s slow roast leg of lamb with ratatouille
All-in-one pan roast lamb with an aromatic coating and ratatouille-style vegetables. Once it’s in the oven you can forget about it for 4 hours. Great for feeding a crowd because you can make it in advance and forget about it.
Ingredients
- large leg of lamb, or shoulder, bone in, approx 2kg/4lb 8oz
- 3 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced into slivers
- 3 onions, thickly sliced
- 2 red peppers, chopped into large pieces
- 1 large aubergine, chopped into large pieces
- 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 300ml/½ pint beef or chicken stock
- 2 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste
- 3 fresh bay leaves
- 1 tbsp honey
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7.
Using a small sharp knife, make a series of small slits over the leg of lamb. Put 2 tablespoons of the thyme in a bowl with the paprika and oil, season and mix together. Spread the mixture over the lamb, insert the garlic slivers into the slits and season the lamb with salt and pepper. Put the onions into a large, deep roasting tin, sit the lamb on top and roast for about 40 minutes.
Reduce the oven temperature to 160C/140C Fan/Gas 3.
Scatter the peppers and aubergine around the lamb. Pour the tomatoes into a bowl, add the stock, tomato paste, the remaining thyme, bay leaves and honey, and stir to combine. Pour into the tin over the peppers and stir. Cover the whole tin with foil and return to the oven for about 4 hours, until the lamb is tender and falling off the bone.
Lift the lamb out of the tin and place on a large board. Spoon off any fat from the top of the sauce. Carve the meat into slices and serve with the vegetables.