If you're like me you fancy a roast dinner most days but sometimes the effort you need to put in can be a bit off putting. There's nothing worse then looking forward to a roast all day only to find out you've over cooked the meat. This is where the slow cooker comes in. Lamb leg cooks beautifully in a slow cooker, after a day of gently cooking away it'll pull apart and just melt in your mouth.
This recipe is also a great way to make your own gravy. I'd hate to waste all the delicious liquid the lamb has sat in all day so with a little bit of effort you can also make the most yummy sauce, I'll show you how below.
Just make sure your side dishes are as good as the meat itself, I like to self mine with your shire puddings, cabbage, peas and mash!!
Prep time 20mins
Cooking time 5.5hrs
2tbsp olive or veg oil
Salt and ground black pepper
1/2 leg of lamb weighing around 850g (pick the fat end if you can)
1 onion, roughly chopped, no need to peel
2 carrots, roughly chopped, no need to peel
5 garlic gloves, chopped in half, no need to peel
5 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary (you can freeze any left over herbs)
2bay leaves
200ml red wine
850ml lamb or beef stock, or how ever much you need to cover the lamb fully in the slowcooker
1tsp red wine vinegar
1tbsp bisto beef granules (optional, depending on how thick you like your gravy)
First heat a frying pan on high and add the oil to heat up.
Season the lamb generously with salt and pepper, we really want to get some flavour in to the meat so don't be shy, at least 1/2tsp of each.
Now brown the lamb all over, this will add more flavour to your meal. Once browned all over, pop it in to the slow cooker.
To the slow cooker add the, onion, carrots, garlic, herbs, red wine and stock. Pop the lid on and set it to slow cook for at least 5hours. Have a little look at it every now and again your liquid might start to reduce slightly so turn the joint over once or twice to ensure its evenly cooked.
Yep.... that's it until gravy making time.
5 hours later......
Now check that your meat is beautiful and soft, it should fall apart at the touch, try not to break it up to much yet.
Ladle half of your cooking liquor in to a saucepan, try not to get and veggies, we only want the liquid. Leave for a minute or 2 until the fat is clearly at the top.
Ok we want to get rid of as much fat as we can from our saucepan of liquid, I have a few ways you can do this depending on what you have available.
Whichever you do just try to remove as much as you can so that our gravy isn't to greasy.
Once you've tried your best to get rid of any fat, put the saucepan on to a high heat and reduce the liquid by half. Lower the heat and have a taste, you may like it just as it is but I like to add a splash of red wine vinegar to cut through the rich flavour.
You may like to serve your gravy just like this, after all its as authentic as it comes or if your prefer a slightly thicker gravy add in the gravy granules, this will help to thicken it with out affecting the flavour.
The bone from your lamb should easily remove and then using two forks, shred the meat up, serve with your favourite veggies and pour over your lovely, rich gravy.
