Sous vide leg of lamb with honey, thyme and sherry

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This sous vide leg of lamb recipe is perfect for a Sunday roast. The lamb is cooked low and slow for at least six hours and finished on the barbecue for a crispy, smoky exterior, but feel free to use a large chargrill pan if the weather isn't playing ball.

First published in 2017

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Sous vide leg of lamb

Sous vide vegetables

To serve

Equipment

  • Large vacuum bags 5
  • Bar sealer
  • Water bath
  • Barbecue

Method

1
To begin, whisk together the honey, sherry and sherry vinegar. Stir in the thyme leaves and rub the mixture all over the lamb
2
Transfer the lamb to a large vacuum bag with the marinade and vacuum seal with a bar sealer. Leave overnight in the fridge to marinate
3
Preheat the water bath to 85°C
4
To prepare the vegetables, peel them and cut the beetroots into slices. Place the carrots, parsnips and beetroot in separate vacuum bags (bag up the yellow and red beetroots separately to avoid the colour bleeding). For the carrots, add 50g butter and star anise; for the parsnips add 50g butter and the thyme; for the beetroot, just add the butter
5
Seal the bags and cook in the water bath for 1 hour, until tender. Plunge into iced water to chill and keep in the fridge until ready to reheat later
6
Preheat a water bath to 56°C for a medium-rare finish and 62°C for medium
7
Place the lamb in the water bath and cook for 6–8 hours
8
About 30 minutes before the lamb is ready, preheat the barbecue
9
Remove the lamb from the water bath and rest for 15 minutes before removing from the bag, saving all the juices from the lamb bag in a saucepan. By this time, the coals of your barbecue should be glowing white. Remove the chilled vegetables from their bags and pat dry
10
Place the lamb directly onto the hot grill and sear all over, turning quickly as it will catch due to the sugar content in the marinade
11
Place the vegetables on the grill too, turning for a light char
12
Heat the reserved lamb juices over a medium-high heat and reduce by a third
13
After about 10 minutes of searing, remove the lamb from the barbecue and cover with foil. Repeat with the vegetables. Place the lettuce and radicchio on the grill to char, cut-side down, until lightly wilted
14
To serve, slice the lamb into even portions and place on a platter. Place the vegetables on another platter and drizzle over the remaining lamb sauce

Danny is a food adventurer, home grower, supper club host and writer of the entertaining and quirky epicurean blog, Food Urchin.

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