Roast Lamb With a Redcurrant Jelly Glaze

As you have been accustomed already, the recipes I have gathered here come into 2 languages: Romanian and English.  This one is an English recipe for Easter, you already know that and in my opinion it is very tasty, especially the gravy. I simply adore gravy. I would eat anytime with almost anything. To be sure I have it in Romania I even bought a pack of gravy powder from London, though I know I can make it at home, a much healthier and better solution. But sometimes I won’t bother.

Here is this traditional but marvelous recipe to make for a traditional Easter day, taken from Tesco Magazine.

Roast Lamb With a Redcurrant Jelly Glaze

Serves: 6  Takes: 2h 15 mins

Ingredients:

For the roast

• 2 tbsp redcurrant jelly
• 2 tsp dry English mustard (if you don’t have it, you can replace it with any mustard you have )
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 approximately  2,3 kg (5 lb) leg of lamb
• 2 garlic cloves, cut into thin slivers
• 2 whole rosemary sprigs, torn
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the gravy:

• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 1/2 tbsp dry English mustard
• 450 ml (3/4 pt) lamb or beef stock (well, boiled water will do, or the water boiled with lamb or beef in it)
• 1 tbsp redcurrant jelly

Method:

• Preheat oven to Gas 4, 180°C, 350°F. Combine jelly, mustard and olive oil, and rub all over the lamb. Make small 2,5 cm (1 in) deep incisions all over the lamb and stud with the garlic slivers and rosemary. Season well with salt and black pepper.
• Transfer the lamb to a roasting tin and cook for 40 minutes per 900 g (2 lb). If the lamb begins to brown too much before the end of cooking, cover it with foil or baking paper (aluminium foil is toxic so try replacing it) and continue cooking. Once cooked, transfer to a serving platter and cover loosely with foil (baking paper and a kitchen towel to keep it in place). Allow to rest for 15 minutes before carving.
• As the lamb rests, make the gravy. Tip excess fat out of the roasting tin, add flour and mustard to the tin, and stir over a low heat for 1 minute. Pour in stock  a little at a time, stirring as you go to remove lumps. Bring to the boil then simmer for 2 minutes. Stir in redcurrant jelly and season to taste. Serve with the lamb.

Cook’s tip: Stud the lamb with chopped, dried apricots and bacon, or sun-dried tomatoes and black olives. In case you don’t have redcurrant jelly go with any wild fruit jelly.

Bon appetite!