Four-hour Lamb

Ingredients

• 1 leg of lamb (a normal leg will serve 4. For 6, use a leg with the chuck on. Ask your butcher to break the shank to fit the dish.)
• duck fat or olive oil
• 2 large carrots
• 2 shallots
• 6 garlic cloves
• handful of fresh thyme
• salt and black pepper
• 2 bottles of white wine
• small waxy potatoes
• bunch of baby carrots
• 400g can of whole plum tomatoes

Method

Preheat the oven to 220ºC. You will need a deep covered roasting dish at least 30cm long. Rub this dish and the lamb with a little duck fat or oil. Slice the carrots into 4 thick batons. Peel and cut the shallot segments in half. Peel the garlic and bruise. Make a bed of carrot, shallot and garlic roughly the shape of the leg. Season and place the thyme on top. Lie the leg on the vegetables and cook uncovered in the oven for 30 minutes.

Take the dish out, season the lamb and cook another 30 minutes. Take the dish out and put on top of the stove over a lit burner. Pour over the wine and when it bubbles, cover and put back in the oven.

Turn the oven to 190ºC. Check a few times to ensure there is plenty of liquid and top up with a little water if necessary. After 2 hours, take the dish out and tuck in the potatoes and baby carrots. Stir the canned tomatoes with a knife and pour over the lamb. Put back in the oven for an hour until the potatoes are cooked. Serve like a stew. You should be able to serve the meat with a spoon.