Roast Lamb with Cyprus Potatoes

I love cooking the potatoes this way – they are totally delicious.  This is a no-fuss, special dinner.

We bought the salt marsh lamb and potatoes from Booths’ supermarket in Carnforth.  Booths is a north-western phenomenon, which has proud little stickers all over the shelves, declaring ‘I’m from Yorkshire’ or ‘I’m from Lancashire.’  It’s a wonderful shop where I always spend far too much money.

You’ll need a joint or two of lamb (leg or shoulder), about 8 Cyprus potatoes, peeled and halved lengthways, one sliced onion, six cloves of garlic, sliced, a tin of tomatoes, ground coriander, ground cinnamon, dried oregano, olive oil and the zest and juice of a lemon.  You might also want some spinach and fresh parsley or coriander.

Cut deep gashes into your lamb and marinate it for 2-4 hours in garlic (6 cloves), 2 teaspoons dried oregano, half a teaspoon of cinnamon and a teaspoon of ground coriander, the zest and juice of a lemon, salt, pepper and a good glug of olive oil.

After the marinade time, pop a lid on and give the lamb an hour’s head start in a hot oven (180-200 degrees).

Now, stick in your potatoes – underneath, around and on top of the lamb.  Sprinkle over a sliced onion and a tin of tomatoes.  Sprinkle an extra couple of teaspoons of ground coriander and some salt over the dish.Turn down the oven and cook in a medium oven (160-180 degrees) for a further 90 minutes; for a larger joint, you will need longer.

If you like your potatoes crispy, like in the photo, take them out with a slotted spoon and cook on a non-stick tray in a hot, hot oven for 15-20 minutes while the lamb rests.

Serve on a bed of spinach with plenty of fresh parsley or coriander.

The starting point for this recipe was http://greekfood.about.com/od/maindishes/r/leglambpotatoes.htm