1 week Ago By The Telegraph
Simple and cooked in one dish. If you’re making three dips, you need the main course to be easy. Check the rice every so often and add more stock or boiling water if it is still too dry.
Cooking time requires time for resting. Overview 25 mins 1 hr 30 mins 9 Ingredients Method Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a small pan. Add 3 grated garlic cloves and 11⁄2 tsp sweet paprika .
Cook gently for 2 minutes. Scrape this into a small bowl. Pull the mint leaves off 25g sprigs and put them in a mortar.
Add 20g parsley leaves, roughly chopped and leaves from 6 thyme sprigs . Bash the leaves until they start to break down. Season and put the garlic and paprika in too.
Add 1 tbsp more of the olive oil and bash everything into a rough paste. Choose a roasting tin or shallow casserole that the lamb leg can fit in. Stab small incisions all over the lamb and push bits of the paste into each one.
You should use all of the paste. Rub the lamb with 11⁄2 tbsp olive oil and season all over. Heat the oven to 230C/220C fan/gas mark 8.
Wash 400g basmati rice in a sieve to get rid of some of the starch. Trim 300g spring onions at the top and bottom and remove any discoloured or floppy outer leaves. Cut each spring onion into 3 horizontally.
Heat 11⁄2 tbsp oil in a frying pan and cook the spring onions until they’re softening – don’t char them. Put half of the 1kg spinach leaves in a large pan with the water clinging to them. Cover with a lid.
Allow the leaves to start wilting over a low heat, turning them over with tongs. Remove the lid so that the moisture can evaporate. Transfer the leaves to a bowl, then cook the other half of the spinach in exactly the same way.
Drain off the water in the bowl and add the second load of spinach. Using scissors, cut the spinach in the bowl and season. Combine the spinach, juice of 1 lemon , spring onions and rice, and season well.
Roast the lamb for 20 minutes then turn the heat down to 180C/170C fan/gas mark 4 and roast for another 10 minutes. Take the lamb out of the oven and spoon the rice and spinach mixture around the leg. Bring 500ml stock and 500ml wine to the boil and pour over the dish.
Return to the oven and cook for 40 minutes. You need to check the rice every so often, gently forking it. You will probably need a bit more liquid – 100-200ml – if it gets dry.
Add this in the form of boiling water or lamb (or chicken) stock. By the end of the cooking time, the rice should have absorbed all the liquid. The lamb should be cooked but still pink.
As it rests, it will cook a little more. Cover the roasting tin or casserole with foil and let the lamb rest for 15 minutes. You can serve this in the dish in which it was cooked or transfer it to a warm serving dish.
Sprinkle the crumbled feta over the rice, squeeze on the juice of 1⁄2 lemon , add the zest and scatter on the herbs..
