Lamb, potatoes and oranges makes an unexpectedly brilliant combination
I prefer a leg roasted in the oven to meat cooked on the grill any day. To master this dish is to be able to provide the ultimate Greek family feast forever.
I had never had a roast lamb with oranges before meeting Yiayia Eleuteria, pictured top right, but I loved the idea of bringing these ingredients together.
I prefer a leg roasted in the oven (and served with soft, citrus-infused potatoes) to meat cooked on the grill any day. To master this dish is to be able to provide the ultimate Greek family feast forever, so I’m particularly excited that Eleuteria is sharing this famous recipe from her taverna in Crete.
Eleuteria knocks this together and has it in the oven within 10 minutes of us meeting. She deftly chops potatoes directly into an oven tray as I watch, completely dazed at how fast she moves. It seems wrong to ask a woman who is so clearly in command of her kitchen if she’d like any help.
Of course, it comes out perfect: caramelised and crisp on the outside, tender and melting in the middle. The potatoes benefit from the extra liquid that the orange juice brings to the dish, and that final hint of citrus makes the entire tray of lamb all the more succulent.
Roasted leg of lamb with oranges
Ingredients
- 330ml (1⅓ cups) extra virgin olive oil
- Juice of 4 oranges, plus 1 orange, sliced, for garnishing
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2-3kg leg of lamb
- 7 large garlic cloves
- ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt
- 6 large potatoes, peeled and quartered
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 3 bay leaves
- 240ml (1 cup) water
- Sea salt flakes
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200C. In a jug, mix together the olive oil, orange juice, honey and mustard.
- Place the lamb in a large roasting tin and make four deep incisions in the meat with a small, sharp knife. Fill each incision with a clove of garlic and a pinch of coarse sea salt. Pour half the oil and orange juice mixture onto the lamb, then place the potatoes around the leg before pouring the rest of the orange mixture over everything.
- Sprinkle over the oregano and add the bay leaves, followed by a scattering of sea salt flakes. Crush the remaining garlic cloves over the potatoes, then pour in the water.
- Cover the tray with foil and roast in the oven for 1 hour. After this time, check how the lamb is progressing and remove the foil so that the meat browns.
- Return to the oven and cook for a further hour, checking it every 15 minutes or so by slicing into the thicker part of the leg and checking the colour on the inside. Top up with a little more water if needed.
- Yiayia Eleuteria likes hers cooked to medium, but if you prefer rare and want your lamb to still retain a little pink in the middle, keep an eye on it. If you’re roasting a smaller leg, the total cooking time will be less – it may only need 30 minutes after taking the foil off. Serves 4-6
This is an edited extract from Yiayia by Anastasia Miari (Hardie Grant, $55).