Butterflied leg of lamb with radish and watercress tzatziki
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- no cooking required
- Serve
- Serves 4
- Dietary
- Egg-freeGluten-freeNut-free
A leg of lamb is boned and butterflied here to make it quick to cook and give the marinade a bigger surface to work its magic. You can buy joints already butterflied from the supermarket, or ask your butcher.
Ingredients
For the lamb
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 1½ tsp dried thyme
- 3 bay leaves
- 1½ tsp dried oregano
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 lemon, juice only
- ½ leg of lamb (approx 1.2kg/2lb 12oz), butterflied
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the dressing
For the tzatziki
- 70g watercress
- 300g/10½oz Greek yoghurt
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 300g/10½oz radishes, julienned, plus 4 thinly sliced, to garnish
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
To make the lamb, prepare the marinade. Bash the garlic, cumin seeds, thyme, bay leaves and oregano together in a pestle and mortar. Mix in the oil, sesame seeds and lemon juice, then season with salt and pepper.
Open up the leg of lamb and place on a board, skin side down. Using a sharp knife, slash the thicker parts of the leg to open it up so that it’s one even thickness.
Rub the marinade all over, then set aside at room temperature for an hour.
Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7.
Heat a griddle pan to hot (or fire up the barbecue) and brown the lamb all over.
Transfer the meat to the hot oven and cook for around 15 minutes for medium (it will be pink in the middle), or until a meat thermometer reads 60C. Then remove from the oven and allow to rest for 30 minutes.
To make the dressing, mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.
To make the tzatziki, blanch half the watercress in boiling water for a few seconds, then refresh in ice-cold water.
Drain and chop the blanched watercress, then add to a bowl and mix with all the other ingredients. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
To serve, slice the lamb and lay it on a large serving plate. Spoon over the dressing and serve the tzatziki alongside. Garnish with the reserved fresh watercress and sliced radishes.
