Crying leg of lamb

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 leg of lamb
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp rosemary, chopped
• 2 tbsp thyme, chopped
• 1 ½ kg potatoes
• 50 g butter
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes; Total time approx. 2 hours

Weeping leg of lamb – an almost forgotten traditional English recipe

Remove the fat from the leg of lamb, cut three cloves of garlic into sticks, and lard the leg of lamb with them. Season the leg with salt and pepper and rub with the oil, rosemary, and thyme. Peel the potatoes and cut into slices approximately 4 millimeters thick. Butter a baking dish larger than the leg of lamb well and arrange a first layer of potato slices, season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with chopped garlic. Distribute knobs of butter and repeat with the second and third layers. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (400 degrees Fahrenheit) and place the leg of lamb on a rack in the upper third without browning. Place the baking dish in the lower part of the oven directly under the leg of lamb. During cooking, the meat juices will seep from the leg of lamb—hence the name “weeping leg of lamb”—and drip directly onto the potato slices, which will then take on a delicious flavor. The cooking time will, of course, depend on the size of the leg. For me, it took a little over an hour. In the meantime, loosen the potatoes if they’re getting too brown, and reduce the heat. Once the leg is fully cooked, slice or chunk the meat and arrange it on top of the potatoes.