Lamb Roast with Pumpkin, Apple & Chestnut “Rough” Mash

I’m finding that taking food pictures of dinner in the Autumn and Winter in London is quite a challenge. By 15:45, it starts to get dark and by 16:30, it’s basically nighttime. The early darkness is annoying for our biological clocks, and alters our mood and sleeping habits.

For a food blogger, there’s the added issue of planning or trying to cook a meal around the small window of light hours. I am an awful planner and making dinner at lunch time during the week just to take a picture is not going to happen. However, during the week, many of my more elaborate meals are prepared at night.

Therefore, if I want to share these recipes with my readers, I have to make due with the poor lighting or create fake lighting… this last option, I’m still working on perfecting.

In the meantime, I’m sharing this recipe with pictures from breakfast. Yes, breakfast. I ate leftovers from dinner as my breakfast, something I love to do since going Paleo! It’s a quick and easy way to incorporate some healthy, saturated fats with which to start off my day.

The question today is, what do I make myself for lunch? 😉

LAMB ROAST WITH PUMPKIN, APPLE & CHESTNUT “ROUGH” MASH

Ingredients, for 2:

1 kg leg of lamb
1/2 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed (about 800g)
3 medium apples, peeled and cubed
10-12 chestnuts, peeled and halved
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon ground rosemary
1 tablespoon coarse sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
zest of 1-2 lemons

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200C (390F). Toss the cubed pumpkin, apples and chestnuts together. Place them on the bottom of an ovenproof dish. Rinse the leg of lamb and place on top of the pumpkin mixture. With a mortar and pestle, crush the garlic. Add the rosemary, sea salt, pepper, zest and olive oil and mix well. Coat the leg of lamb on both sides with the rosemary mixture. Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes for medium done or about 15 minutes longer for less pink. About half way through, take the roast out of the oven, and remove the lamb, carefully to not burn yourself. With a spoon, toss the pumpkin mixture and replace the leg of lamb, with the un-cooked side up. Continue baking until done.

*****

PIERNA DE CORDERO AL HORNO CON BASE DE CALABAZA, MANZANAS Y CASTAÑAS

Ingredientes, para 2 comensales:

1 kg pierna de cordero
1/2 calabaza tipo “butternut squash”, como 800g, pelada y cortada a taquitos
3 manzanas medianas, peladas y cortadas a taquitos
10-12 castañas frescas, peladas y cortadas por la mitad
4 dientes de ajo, pelados
1 cucharada grande de romero molido
1 cucharada grande de sal gorda
1 cucharadita de pimienta negra
1/2 taza de aceite de oliva
ralladura de 1 o 2 limones

Como hacer el cordero al horno:

Precalienta el horno a 200C. Mezcla los trozos de calabaza, manzana y las castañas y pon todo en el fondo del recipiente que vaya a ir al horno. Enjuaga la pierna de cordero y coloca la encima de la calabaza. En un mortero, machaca los ajos. Añade el romero, la pimienta, la sal, la ralladura de limón y el aceite de oliva. Mezcla todo bien y embadurna ambos lados de la pierna de cordero con esta mezcla. Hornear como una hora y 15 minutos o una hora y media. A mitad de tiempo, saca el cordero del horno. Retira la pierna del recipiente, con cuidado para no quemarte y ponla en un plato. A continuación, con una cuchara de palo, dale la vuelta a la calabaza y demás. Vuelve a incorporar la pierna de cordero en el recipiente, pero esta vez del lado aún no hecho. Termina horneando.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

3 Comments

  1. 11.22.13
    Pip Adler said:

    This dish looks fab, looking forward to making it! Just wanted to say that I use your site a lot (your beet root cake is my kids absolute favourite, I make it at least once a fortnight!) and I’m LOVING the new look. Nice to have a paleo blogger who isn’t based in the US too 😉 ,keep up the awesome work!

    • 11.22.13
      The Saffron Girl said:

      Thank you Pip. That’s lovely from you. Debra x