Watch: Formula Food – Turkish style 8 hour roasted lamb recipe

Ingredients

• 1 Leg of Lamb
• 1 Tin of Chopped Tomatoes
• 1 Sliced Aubergine
• 1 Sliced Red Onion
• 1 Chopped Carrot
• 2-3 Finely Chopped Fresh Chillies
• Enough rice for 6 people
• 250g of Quartered Button Mushrooms
• A Pinch of Saffron
• 1 Pint of Stock - Lamb is better
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 Good pinch of Cumin
• 1 Very Good pinch of Paprika
• 1 tablespoon of dried finely chopped Mint
• 1 tablespoon of dried finely chopped Oregano
• 2 Minced Cloves of Garlic

Instructions

Prep

1. Pour the chopped tomatoes into the bottom of a suitably sized roasting tray.
2. Layer on the sliced veggies, setting the mushrooms aside, they are for the rice. Pour in the stock.
3. Season well with mint and oregano.
4. Lay the leg of lamb on top, pat dry, and drizzle with olive oil.
5. Rub into the skin a good amount of both cumin and paprika.
6. Cover well with tinfoil. I propped the tinfoil off of the skin of the lamb using a cocktail stick and a ball of foil to create a big tent.

Cooking

1. I cooked this for ages at very low heat, about 120°C. If you're going to cook it quicker, go for a little higher. I think six hours is about 140°C if it's well covered. Check as it cooks along. Make sure it's hot through and never cooks dry either, this is key to it being super moist.
2. One trick I used was to fridge the whole thing overnight, and then let it come up to room temperature before putting it in a cold oven. Then switch the oven on, the slow ramping up of the temperature will gently render the fats through the meat, helping to ensure a soft joint.

The Rice

1. Soak the rice for a good while, 20-30 mins.
2. Drain well, and then toast gently in oil and butter with some aromatics of your choosing. As they go, ladle some of the juice from the lamb tray into a jug with the saffron. Stir well.
3. Once all the grains are glossy and well coated in the fat, ladle your lamb juice in and cook the rice. Once soft and well cooked, you're good to plate up.

Recipe Notes

Don't go light on the seasoning if you're going to cook for a long time. The longer you cook the fainter the flavours grow.

Recipe by

Me. I made this up by myself with my big brain.