Lemon thyme and fennel butterflied leg of lamb
- Portion size: Serves 6
- Hands on time 5 mins, 25-30 mins barbecue time, plus 1-24 hours marinating and 5 mins resting
- Difficulty: easy
This butterflied leg of lamb recipe is fantastic as a summer Sunday lunch. The marinade for this barbecued dish will work well with any type of red meat, poultry or fish.
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Ingredients
- 2.5kg good-quality leg of lamb, butterflied (ask your butcher to do this for you), trimmed of fat
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 2 large garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed
- 6 lemon thyme sprigs, leaves picked
- Pared zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp Maldon sea salt flakes
- ½ tsp coarsely crushed black peppercorns
- Chunky chips, to serve
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Method
- Cut and open up any thicker areas of meat so that it is all about 4-5cm thick. Mix all the other ingredients (apart from the chips) together in a large shallow dish, add the lamb and coat well. Cover and marinate at room temperature for 1 hour, or chill and marinate for up to 24 hours.
- If using a charcoal barbecue, light about 30 minutes before you want to cook. For a gas barbecue, preheat 10 minutes beforehand.
- Lift the lamb out of the dish, let the excess oily marinade drain away, then lay on the barbecue. Cook over a direct high heat for 25-30 minutes, turning occasionally and moving away from any flare-ups, until well-coloured but pink and juicy in the middle. Test by making a cut in the thickest part and check if cooked to your liking or test by pushing in a meat thermometer – it should read 60°C. Cook for longer if you like.
- Transfer the lamb to a board, cover and rest for 5 minutes. Carve into thick slices and serve with chunky chips.
Nutrition
- 783kcals Calories
- 43.1g (2.2g saturated) Fat
- 71.2g Protein
- 30.5g (0.7g sugars) Carbs
- 0.9g Salt
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