Roast Lamb with Tapenade and Spring Onions

I’m proud to be a lambassador again this year, discovering how tasty, easy and fun lamb is. The campaign shows what a modern, convenient, versatile and tasty meat lamb is. I’m sharing one recipe with you today but there are loads more at www.tastyeasylamb.ie to show just how cooking with lamb can be a fun and creative experience.

The first recipe I’ve chosen is the Roast lamb with tapenade and Spring Onions, mainly because I seem to be stuck in a ‘roast leg of lamb on a Sunday’ rut and thought it would be fun to roast a different joint midweek. My butcher, I went to O’Farrells in Midleton, gave me plenty of options for joints that I could roast. There were some with a bone in for more flavour and others with no bone so that slicing it up would be super easy.

I used new season spring onions for this and they were delicious. Along with sun ripened cherry tomatoes this is one easy dinner to rustle up. I served it with some hot buttered orzo one night and made it a few days later and served it with potato wedges. It’s got that special Sunday roast feel to it but with none of the hassle. The salty tapenade is delicious with the lamb, definitely a combination I’ll repeat again.

This is a sponsored post promoting how undeniably delicious lamb is to cook and eat! See #tastyeasylamb on Twitter and Instagram for more recipes or visit www.tastyeasylamb.ie

Roast Lamb with Tapenade and Spring Onions

Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 45 to 55 minutes

Ingredients for 4 people:

A small lamb joint (750 to 800 g)

A knob of butter

salt and pepper

120 g black olive tapenade

2 tbsp. breadcrumbs

400 g cherry tomatoes

3 bunches of spring onions or baby leeks

2 tbsp. olive oil

4 sprigs of rosemary

• Take the lamb out of the fridge 1 hour in advance.
• Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 4, 180°C, 350°F.
• Melt a little butter in a large frying pan. Then brown the lamb on all sides. Season with a little salt and pepper. Place in a large oven dish and cook for 25 to 35 minutes.
• Take the dish out of the oven, spread half the tapenade over the joint then sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top. Surround the joint with the cherry tomatoes and onions/leeks. Mix the olive oil with the rest of the tapenade and spread over the vegetables. Add the sprigs of rosemary and place back in the oven for 20 more minutes.
• Remove from the oven, cover the dish with tin foil and leave to rest for 10 minutes.
• Slice the meat and serve with steamed vegetables and roast potatoes 
Tip: You can also use two racks of lamb for this recipe (around 400 g per piece). In that case, the first time they go in the oven they will only need cooking for 10 to 15 minutes.