Horopito Roast Lamb with Orange & Mint Sauce

By Christall Lowe

Horopito Roast Lamb with Orange & Mint Sauce
To me, a roast lamb is the epitome of a family roast dinner. Sunday dinners at my parents’ and grandparents’ meant the aroma of a roast lamb or hogget, which always came with rich gravy made from the pan drippings.

There was nothing quite like the succulent, tasty roast vegetables that were cooked in with the lamb, either. Heaven forbid if there was ever a pale roast potato!

Here I’ve created a very simple orange and mint sauce to accompany the lamb, and the flavour is out of this world. It’s the perfect accompaniment, and so incredibly easy to make using homemade or store-bought marmalade.

Serves: 8

Ingredients

2kg leg of lamb
1 bulb garlic, plus 4 cloves
1 tsp dried horopito, or 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
zest of 1 orange
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp salt 1 tsp cracked black pepper
vegetables, to roast with the lamb

For the orange and mint sauce
½ cup orange marmalade
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
finely grated zest of 1 orange
½ tsp cracked black pepper
water to thin, if necessary

Method

1. Remove the lamb from the fridge one hour before cooking, to allow it to come up to room temperature.

2. Heat the oven to 180ºC.

3. Slice the whole bulb of garlic in half, crossways, and peel the other 4 cloves. Roughly chop half of the rosemary leaves, if using.

4. Crush the peeled garlic, and place in a bowl with the dried horopito or chopped rosemary, orange zest and olive oil, then mix together.

5. Season the lamb with sea salt and pepper, then rub the marinade all over the meat.

6. Place lamb in a large roasting pan along with the halved garlic bulbs, and any prepared vegetables that you’d like to roast at the same time (optional — see page 188).

7. Add the remaining rosemary sprigs, and drizzle over a good glug of olive oil.

8. Cook the lamb for 1 hour 20 minutes if you like it rarer and pink, or 2 hours if you prefer it more well done. General cooking times for roasting a leg of lamb are (per 500g):

• Rare 20–25 minutes
• Medium 25–30 minutes
• Well done 30–35 minutes

9. When the lamb is cooked to your liking, remove from the oven and leave to rest for around 15 minutes before carving.

10. While the lamb is cooking you can make the orange and mint sauce. Mix all of the sauce ingredients in a medium bowl until well combined.

11. Serve the lamb with roast vegetables, orange and mint sauce, and some seasonal greens.

Extract from ‘Kai: Food stories and recipes from my family table’, by Christall Lowe, photography by Christall Lowe, published by Bateman Books, RRP $59.99, Available now

SHARE THIS ARTICLE

Print Recipe

BECOME A MiNDFOOD SUBSCRIBER TODAY

Let us keep you up to date with our weekly MiNDFOOD e-newsletters which include the weekly menu plan, health and news updates or tempt your taste buds with the MiNDFOOD Daily Recipe. 

Member Login