Sundays are for roasts.

To me, there’s little more irresistibly roastable than a chunky leg of lamb. Why? Because the longer it roasts, the more tender the meat, and the more glasses of wine can be enjoyed while “cooking”. I say that in inverted commas, because really it’s Flippie who will be doing the bulk of the cooking. More on that later.

Who’s hungry? Vincent and I. But this recipe will be enough for 4 people. Leftovers for the win!

Ingredients:

• 1.4 kg leg of lamb

For the basting sauce:

• 1 tbsp thyme
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• Half a cup of olive oil
• Half a tsp soy sauce
• A glug of red wine
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp Salt
• 1 tsp pepper

For the roasted veg:

• 1 kg butternut cubes
• 10 baby potatoes, halved
• 3 sweet bell peppers, thickly sliced
• 4 red onions, quartered
• 100 g sun-dried tomato quarters, chopped
• Olive oil to drizzle
• 1 wheel of feta cheese
• 100 g tomato paste
• 1 can of chopped tomatoes with garlic
• 2 tbsp origanum
• 3 twigs of fresh rosemary
• Salt and pepper to taste

Let’s prep!

Light the fire at least 4 hours before you plan on eating. Prepare yourself for a proper lazy Sunday.

Start by making your basting sauce. Whisk all the ingredients together and put it in the microwave on 50% power for 4 minutes, so the flavours can really get to know each other.

Whisk it again at the halfway point.

Score the fatty side of the meat using a sharp knife.

Get out a handy zip lock baggy that’s just the right size for your hunk of meat. Plop the meat into the bag and pour most of the basting sauce in there too. Leave a bit of the sauce for later. You’re going to use it to baste the meat while it’s cooking. Seal the bag tightly.

Put the bag of marinating meat in the fridge until your coals are ready for action. The longer the better.

It’s about time you pour yourself a glass of wine. Today, I’m having Woolworths Organic Merlot.

Let’s braai!

We’re using our good friend, Flippie, to do the braaing for us this time around. He’s a battery powered rotisserie. You can check out our model here.

For optimum use of a rotisserie, it’s best to have a side-fire going. Periodically throughout Flippie’s incessant rotating, you’ll need to feed the coal-bed underneath the meat with new coals from the side-fire to keep the heat constant.

Poke the meat onto Flippie’s spike and baste it every 10 minutes, using the basting sauce that you kept aside earlier.

Now just be patient. All you have to do is feed the side-fire more wood and tend to the coal-bed every now and then for about 3 hours. Or longer, depending on how hungry you are by that time.

The leg of lamb will shrink quite a bit throughout the cooking process. The end result should be deliciously charred.

Let’s roast the veg!

About an hour before chow time, preheat the oven to 180°C.

Mix the canned tomatoes, tomato paste and sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl. Include the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes too.

Add the butternut, onions, sweet peppers, baby potatoes, salt, pepper and origanum to a baking tray. Stir the tomato mix into the veggies until they are all nicely coated. Scatter the rosemary onto the veggies.

Drizzle with olive oil and roast in the oven for 30 minutes. Then take the veggies out and give them a careful toss with a spatula. Put it back into the oven again for another 30 minutes.

Take the tray out of the oven and crumble feta cheese over the veggies. Pop it back in for another 5 minutes.

Finally! Let’s eat!

Carve around the bone, creating thick slices.

Dish the veggies on the side and dig in.

It’s great with a side dollop of mustard or mint sauce, or both. 

I obviously did both.