The recipe
At Château d’Issan, we source our lamb from the Pyrenees in the southwest of France. Slowcooking this dish in a casserole in the oven is less risky than cooking on the hob, where it would be more at risk of burning over the course of the seven hours required.
Serves 8
Preparation time 1 hour
Cooking time 7 hours
INGREDIENTS
1 leg of lamb (about 2.5kg)
50g unsalted butter
100ml grapeseed oil
500g carrots, peeled and sliced
500g onions, sliced
5 garlic cloves, sliced
80g plain flour
2 tbsp honey
500ml water
2 litres red wine
1 litre veal stock
2 tbsp redcurrant jelly (optional) fleur de sel and freshly ground black pepper
1. Preheat the oven to 150°C (300° F/gas mark 2). 2. Season the leg of lamb with salt and pepper, then in a cast-iron casserole dish on the hob sauté in the butter and oil for 5 minutes on each side.
3. Add the carrots, onions and garlic to the casserole dish with the lamb.
4. Sprinkle lightly with the flour, then add the honey, water, red wine and veal stock and stir. Bring to the boil, skimming off the scum that rises to the surface using a small ladle.
5. Transfer the dish to the oven to cook.
6. After 7 hours, remove from the oven. The meat will have become very tender. Take the meat out of the casserole and allow to rest while you perform the last step.
7. Reduce the gravy on the hob, but don’t strain it if you want to keep the vegetables. Test it for its acidity: if necessary, add some redcurrant jelly to sweeten it. Adjust seasoning if needed.
8. Serve the whole leg of lamb with grilled vegetables, if you wish. Pour over the red wine gravy.