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Lamb leg, purple-sprouting broccoli, haricot beans and anchovy
Serves 4 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 150g purple-sprouting broccoli
- vegetable oil, to brush
- 150g lamb stock
- 2 anchovies, chopped
- 20g olive oil
For the lamb leg
- 1kg boneless lamb leg
- 50g fresh oregano
- 5 garlic cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 shallot
- 5g salt
- 20g rice koji
- 100g olive oil
- zest 1/2 lemon
For the beans
- 100g dried haricot beans, soaked overnight and drained
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 bay leaf
For the macadamia pesto
- 50g macadamia nuts
- 1g thyme, leaves only
- 1/2 garlic clove, peeled
- zest 1/2 lemon
- 20g lemon juice
- 20g flat-leaf parsley leaves
- 15g capers
- 10g fresh oregano
- 70g vegetable oil
- 25g olive oil
Method
The day before, use a sharp knife to butterfly the lamb leg open. Put in a non-reactive container. Make a marinade by blending the rest of the ingredients for the lamb leg together using a hand-held blender. Pour this onto the lamb, making sure to cover the whole leg. Cover and put in the fridge overnight.
The next day, light a good fir and let it burn down to a solid bed of coals. Using your hands, remove most of the marinade and put the lamb on a rack around 1m above the surface of the fire. Cook for around 1 hour 15 minutes or until it reaches 50C on a cook's thermometer. The heat should be consistent but slow; the slower the cook, the more tender it will be. Remove from the fire and let it rest, covered, in a warm spot for 10 minutes.
For the beans, put the haricot beans in a small pan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and give it a couple of good skims to remove the foam. Turn the heat down to just below a simmer, add the garlic and bay and cook very gently for 1 hour 30 minutes or until just tender and creamy. Remove the pan from the heat and cool as quickly as possible while keeping the beans submerged.
For the pesto, put everything except the oils into the bowl of a small blender and pulse until roughly chopped. Add in both oils and pulse once to combine. Season with salt if necessary.
Preheat a wood-fired oven to 450C or set your regular oven to its highest temperature. Oil the sprouting broccoli with the vegetable oil and season with salt. Put in a cast-iron pan and cook in the oven until the broccoli starts to get soft. Add the lamb stock, beans and anchovies and continue cooking until everything has warmed through. Remove from the oven, check the seasoning and add the olive oil.
Carve the lamb leg, transfer to a serving dish and top with the broccoli. Spoon some of the pesto on the side and serve with the beans and sauce.
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