Roast Leg of Lamb with Apples and Cider

Ingredients

(Serves: 8-10)
1 leg of lamb, about 2kg, fattrimmed and skin scoredolive oil, to drizzle3 tbsp NoMU Lamb Rub orNEW NoMU Roast RubNoMU Just SaltNoMU Just Pepper3-4 garlic cloves, skinson and halveda few sprigs of thymejuice from half a lemon4 Granny Smithapples, quartered500ml apple cider60ml honey, to drizzle300ml lamb or chicken stock
This is one of my favourite Gordon Ramsay recipes from his book ?Cooking for Friends?, with an added NoMU touch of course. It is very easy and truly delicious.

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 220°C.

Weigh the lamb and calculate the final cooking time at 12 minutes per 450g for medium-rare, 15 minutes per 450g for medium. Score the fat in a criss-cross pattern, then drizzle with a little olive oil and rub all over with NoMU Rub, salt & pepper. Place in a deep roasting pan and scatter the garlic and thyme over and around. Pour over the lemon juice and drizzle again with olive oil. Sprinkle with a little more NoMU Lamb Rub, then roast in the hot oven for 20 minutes.

Remove the lamb from the oven and reduce the heat to 180°C. Scatter the apples around the pan and pour the cider and honey over the lamb. Continue to roast for the calculated time. To check, insert a skewer into the thickest part of the lamb, then press the meat lightly, the redder the juices, the rarer the meat. Lift the lamb onto a carving board and cover with a piece of kitchen foil. Rest it in a warm place while you prepare the gravy.

Pour the contents of the pan, including the apples and garlic into a fine sieve set over a saucepan. Push down with the back of a ladle to extract all the juices and flavour and then discard the pulp. Place the pan over a medium heat and add the stock. Bring to the boil and let it bubble vigorously until it has thickened. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then pour into a warm serving jug. Carve the lamb into thin slices and serve drizzled with the apple and cider gravy. Alternatively only use half the apples to make the gravy and keep the rest to serve whole with the lamb.