Honey, Grenadine & Ginger Roasted Lamb with Pomegranate & Mint Salad
Caribbean Food Made Easy
by Levi Roots
This makes a knock-out Sunday roast. Thyme, lime, ginger and cinnamon are classic West Indian flavourings. What's unusual is grenadine, normally found in cocktails, used to flavour the meat.
Serves 8
INGREDIENTS
• 3kg (6½ lb) leg of lamb
• 8 tbsp grenadine
• 10 tbsp runny honey
• juice of 3 limes and zest of 2
• 8 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• leaves from 8 sprigs of thyme
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• salt and pepper
FOR THE SALAD
• 1 small red onion, very finely sliced
• seeds from 2 pomegranates
• 30g (1oz) mint leaves
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper
DIRECTIONS
1. Wash the lamb and pat it dry with kitchen paper Using a small, sharp knife, make incisions all over the meat. Mix all the other ingredients to make a marinade and spread it over the lamb, making sure some goes down into the incisions. Cover with clingfilm and put in the fridge overnight. Turn the lamb over once or twice.
2. Remove the lamb from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature.
3. Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F. Put a sheet of foil big enough to go all around the lamb in a roasting tin, lay the meat on top and season all over. Pull the foil up around the leg to almost cover, leaving it open slightly at the top so steam can escape. Cook the lamb in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then turn it down to 180°C/350°F and cook for a further 2 hours. Open the foil after an hour so that the outside gets a lovely dark glaze, but pull it over again to cover if the honey starts to bum. Baste every so often with the juices and any leftover marinade.
4. When the lamb is cooked through, pull the foil up round it again, cover it with tea towels and leave to rest for 20 minutes before carving. Make the salad just before serving by simply tossing all the ingredients together. Serve the lamb with the cooking juices and the salad.
LEVI'S TIP: To remove the seeds from a pomegranate, cut it in half through its equator then, holding the fruit cut side down over a large bowl, bash it hard with a wooden spoon. The seeds should ricochet out!
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