Spiced pomegranate slow-roast lamb leg recipe | Sainsbury`s Magazine (2024)

'The warm spices and sweet, tangy marinade work brilliantly with lamb and are all rich, comforting flavours that are really familiar to me,' says cook Meliz. 'This roast will make a magical showstopper for the festivities.'

Meliz Berg

Raised in a Turkish Cypriot household in London, Meliz is a self-taught cook and recipe developer who is passionate about her foodie heritage. Her simple, flavour-packed recipes celebrate the rich diversity of Cypriot cuisine.Known as @melizcooks on Instagram, she also has a sizeable foodie following

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Ingredients

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Step by step

1. Brush a large, deep roasting tin with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, then thickly slice the onions into rounds and lay the slices flat in the middle of the tin, adding the cinnamon stick – the onions will serve as a trivet for the lamb.
2. Grind the coriander seeds fairly finely in a pestle and mortar and add them to a small bowl along with the cumin, paprika, dried oregano, garlic and 1¼ teaspoons of flaky sea salt.
3. Finely chop the leaves from a couple of the mint sprigs and add them to the bowl along with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, 2 tablespoons of the pomegranate molasses, 1 tablespoon of honey, the zest from one of the clementines and 30ml of the clementine juice. Mix everything together to create a loose paste.
4. Lightly score three long, diagonal incisions across the top of the lamb and sit it in the tin on top of the onion slices. Using clean hands (or wearing gloves), gently rub the spice paste all over the lamb so that it embeds itself within the shallow cuts you made across the skin. Season the lamb with some cracked black pepper, then allow it to sit and come up to room temperature for half an hour, and for the spice paste to infuse the lamb. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 170°C, fan 150°C, gas 3½.
5. Pour the stock into the tray around the lamb and cover the tray with one or two very large pieces of foil, creating enough space over the lamb so that the foil doesn’t stick to the meat and steam can generate within the tent. Pinch the foil securely and tightly all around the edges of the tray and place in the oven, on the bottom shelf.
6. Slow-roast the lamb for 5 hours, basting every 2 hours, and always ensuring to re-cover the tray tightly with the foil each time you do. Turn the heat up to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4 for the last hour, then 20 minutes before the end, baste again and remove the foil for the remaining cooking time.
7. Once the lamb is ready, the meat should be almost falling off the bone. Take the tray out of the oven and spoon over the basting juices one final time, but do not put the tray back in the oven. Cover the tray with foil for 10 minutes to let the lamb rest and soak up the juices while you make the mint and coriander sauce.
8. Very finely chop the remaining mint leaves and all of the coriander then add the herbs to a small bowl with the remaining clementine zest, 3 tablespoons of pomegranate molasses and 1 tablespoon of honey, the remaining 30ml of clementine juice and ¼ teaspoon sea salt flakes, as well as the balsamic vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil.
9. Serve the lamb on a platter, adding the onions from the roasting tin if you wish. Spoon the mint and coriander sauce over and scatter with the pomegranate seeds.