Delia Smith Slow-Cooked Leg of Lamb in Beaujolais

In autumn or winter, Delia Smith’s slow-cooked leg of lamb is her Autumn Lamb Braised in Beaujolais, for 6 to 8 people. You brown the leg in a hot oven, then braise it under foil in a bottle of Beaujolais with roasted root vegetables. It needs about 4¾ hours in all, but most of that is quiet time in the oven.

Delia printed it in her Winter Collection in 1995, in her chapter on reviving Sunday lunch. She says slow braising under foil keeps the lamb moist and brings out its full flavour.

Because the vegetables finish in the same wine, it is a simple main course for a crowd. At the end, the soft garlic is squeezed into the sauce with a spoonful of redcurrant jelly.

For a shorter roast that stays pink, use her roast lamb cooking times for a leg. For a smaller slow dish, her lamb shanks recipe braises two shanks in red wine with beans.

Delia Smith’s Autumn Lamb Braised in Beaujolais

Recipe by Anne Morgan

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: DinnerCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

6-8

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

4

hours 

20

minutes

Calories

750

kcal

A whole leg of lamb browned in a very hot oven, then braised gently under foil in Beaujolais. Carrots, turnips, potatoes, parsnips and shallots roast first, then finish in the wine.

Ingredients

• For the lamb:

• 1 leg of lamb, 2.25-2.5kg (5-5½lb)

• 4 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 teaspoon each chopped fresh thyme and rosemary leaves

• 1 bottle Beaujolais

• a few thyme sprigs

• 1 rosemary sprig

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 heaped teaspoon redcurrant jelly

• rock salt and freshly milled black pepper

• For the vegetables:

• 8 small carrots, about 225g (8oz)

• 2 turnips, about 225g (8oz)

• 8 small red-skinned potatoes, about 700g (1½lb)

• 4 small parsnips, about 450g (1lb)

• 8 shallots or small onions, about 225g (8oz)

• 3 large garlic cloves, unpeeled

• To garnish:

• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley or 1 tablespoon thyme leaves

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Directions

• Oven: Put 3 tablespoons of the oil in a large, shallow roasting tray and put it in the oven. Heat the oven to 230°C, fan 210°C, gas mark 8.
• Vegetables: Scrub the carrots, turnips and potatoes. Leave the carrots whole, quarter the turnips with their skins on and cut each potato lengthways into 4. Peel and halve the parsnips, peel the shallots and keep them whole, then dry everything well in a clean tea towel.
• Roast: Set the hot tray over a medium heat on the hob. Turn the vegetables and the unpeeled garlic in the hot oil, then roast them on the top shelf for 25-30 minutes, turning them halfway.
• Lamb: Meanwhile, put the lamb in a roasting tin of about 36 x 26cm (14½ x 10½in), 5cm (2in) deep. Rub it all over with the last tablespoon of oil, crushed rock salt and coarse black pepper.
• Brown: Take the vegetables out when they are brown at the edges. Roast the lamb on the highest shelf it fits for 30 minutes, until golden.
• Wine: Turn the oven down to 170°C, fan 150°C, gas mark 3, and spoon off the fat. Set the tin over a medium heat, pour in the Beaujolais, baste the meat and sprinkle over the chopped thyme and rosemary.
• Braise: As soon as the wine bubbles, turn off the heat. Cover the tin with a tent of foil that does not touch the meat, and fold it tightly under the rim. Cook it on the centre shelf for 1½ hours.
• Vegetables in: Put the tin back over the heat, take off the foil and baste the lamb. Spoon the vegetables into the wine around it, season them and add the thyme and rosemary sprigs and the bay leaf.
• Finish: When it simmers again, put the foil back and cook for 1½ hours more.
• Sauce: Lift the meat and vegetables onto warm dishes, throw away the herb sprigs and keep them covered. Boil the sauce on the hob to reduce it, then squeeze the garlic out of its skins and whisk it in with the redcurrant jelly.
• Serve: Season the sauce and pour it into a warm jug. Scatter the parsley or thyme over the lamb and vegetables.

Notes

• Her 1995 book prints 220°C next to gas mark 8, but gas mark 8 is 230°C. Her website gives 230°C, so use that.

FAQs

Is this a slow roast leg of lamb?

Not quite, because it braises in wine rather than roasting dry. Delia browns the leg for 30 minutes, then it cooks gently under foil for 3 hours.

She says the foil keeps the meat beautifully moist. In my view, it is closer to a pot-roast made in a roasting tin.

Can I use another red wine?

Yes, any light red wine works. Delia gives that swap herself in her roast leg of lamb with Shrewsbury sauce, where the sauce uses Beaujolais or another light red.

My own view is that a light, fruity red suits the long, gentle cooking best.

Can I make it in a slow cooker?

You can, but Delia cooks it in the oven. In How to Cook Book Three, she says she does not need a slow cooker, because a low oven does the same job.

If you try one, brown the lamb and the vegetables first, and check that the leg fits with the lid on. Her slow cooker notes in the Complete Cookery Course give casseroles about 8 hours on low or around 5 hours on high. Those times are for casseroles, so using them for a leg is my own call.

Why is it called autumn lamb?

Delia calls braising one of the best ways to cook lamb in the autumn and winter months. Her website also lists it among the recipes to cook in November.

In mid-summer it is different. Then lamb is at its peak, and she serves it plainly roasted with a sauce of young mint leaves.