Celebrity chef

Jamie Oliver

Jamie is one of the UK ’s best-known chefs and a well-known broadcaster. His ‘Fifteen’ restaurants have trained many disadvantaged young people and he’s responsible for the ongoing campaign for good quality school dinners. His books include Jamie At Home, Jamie’s Italy, The Naked Chef and Jamie’s Dinners. He’s a regular contributor to delicious.

Serves 4-6

Best barbecued meat and home-made barbecue sauce recipe

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Over 2 hours

1.8kg free-range or organic chicken, spatchcocked (your butcher can do this for you or simply cut the backbone out and flatten the chicken, then thread onto 2 large skewers)

OR 3kg leg of lamb, on the bone, slashed evenly 5mm deep or 2kg pork rib racks

For the marinade
1 heaped tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp fennel seeds
5 cloves
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Bunch of fresh thyme or lemon thyme, leaves picked
Bunch of fresh rosemary, leaves picked and chopped, a few whole sprigs reserved
Zest and juice of 1 orange
1 bulb of garlic, broken into cloves and peeled
4 heaped tsp sweet smoked paprika
6 tbsp balsamic vinegar
150ml organic tomato ketchup
8 tbsp olive oil
10 bay leaves

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1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4, then light or preheat your barbecue about 40 minutes later.
2. To make the marinade, grind the cumin and fennel seeds with the cloves in a pestle and mortar with some salt and pepper. Chop the thyme and rosemary leaves, orange zest and garlic together finely. Put into a bowl with the ground spices, then add the rest of the marinade ingredients and mix together.
3. Rub your chosen meat all over with the marinade, really getting it into all the nooks and crannies and, in the case of the lamb, the slashes. Place the meat in a snug-fitting roasting tray, top with any leftover marinade and cover loosely with foil. Bake the meat in the preheated oven until sweet and tender. This will take 1½ hours for the pork ribs and the lamb (but if you like your lamb pink, it will only need an hour), and 1 hour and 20 minutes for spatchcocked chicken.
4. Now you’re going to finish your meat on a medium-hot barbecue. Place it carefully on the bars of the barbecue and sear well on 1 side, then turn it over. While it’s cooking, use your reserved rosemary sprigs to baste the meat with the sticky juices from the bottom of the roasting tray. Keep turning and brushing the meat until you’ve built up a lovely sticky, charred crust, then take it off the barbie and rest it on a serving dish for a few minutes. Meanwhile, pop your roasting tray on the barbie or over a gas hob and let the juices reduce a bit.
5. Cut the pork into individual ribs; carve the leg of lamb into slices; or tear the chicken into pieces, and serve with a bowl of the lovely marinade juices from the roasting tray and some barbecued vegetables.

Chef's tip

This recipe makes enough marinade for one of the types of meat listed in the ingredients. However, I love to do three different types of meat at the same time – if you want to do that, make three times the amount of marinade.

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