Leg of lamb with apricot and almond stuffing
Serves: 8
Cook: 3 hrs
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Equipment
- Chopping boards
- knives
- Mixing Bowl
- Juicer
- garlic crusher
- Food processor
- Frying pan
- Mixing spoon
- String
- Roasting tin with rack
- oven gloves
- Large spoons
- Sieve
- Saucepan
- kettle
- measuring jug
- fork
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Ingredients
- 2-3 kg Northern Ireland Farm Quality Assured boned leg of lamb
Apricot and almond stuffing
- 250 g Dried apricots
- 1 Orange
- 1 Onion
- 1 Garlic clove
- 1 Small handful fresh parsley
- 1 Small handful fresh mint
- 2 x 15 ml (2 tbsp) Olive oil
- 120 g Bread
- 2 x 15 ml (2 tbsp) Ground almonds
- 1 x 15 ml (1 tbsp) Clear honey
- 500 ml Water
- 1 x Reduced salt lamb stock cube
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Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas mark 4
- Roughly chop the dried apricots and place in a mixing bowl
- Juice the orange and pour over the apricots. Leave to soak for 1 hour.
Prepare the vegetables and herbs:
- Peel, remove the top and bottom of the onion and finely chop;
- Peel and crush the garlic;
- Finely chop the mint and parsley.
Method
- Place the bread in a food processor and blitz to make breadcrumbs.
- Fry the onions and garlic in a little of the olive oil for 1 minute.
- Add the onions, garlic, parsley, mint, ground almonds and breadcrumbs to the apricots in orange juice. Mix well.
- Spoon the stuffing into the gap in the lamb where the bone has been removed.
- Tie the lamb joint neatly with string.
- Place the lamb on the rack of a roasting tin and roast for 25 mins/500g.
- Remove the lamb from the oven, lift the lamb off of the rack and skim the fat from the juices in the roasting tin.
- Replace the meat on the rack and spread the honey over the surface of the lamb, return to the oven and roast for a further 30 minutes
- Take the lamb out of the oven, remove from the rack and cover with tin foil to rest for 20 minutes.
- While the meat is resting carefully sieve the juices from the roasting tin into a saucepan.
- Make up the stock and add to the saucepan.
- Boil the sauce rapidly until it begins to reduce.
- Serve the lamb with the sauce.
