Barbecued Harrisa Butterfly Leg of Lamb

Undoubtedly the best barbecue recipe for lamb I have come across and regularly used in the Matthews household. Harissa is a middle eastern type of hot sauce/paste which is made up of  piri piri (type of chilli pepper), serrano peppers,  spices and herbs such as garlic paste, coriander, red chilli powder, caraway as well as some vegetable or olive oil. It is most closely associated with Tunisia, Libya, Algeria and works absolutely brilliantly with lamb.

I’ve tried a few different Harrisa pastes but my favourite is Belazu’s rose harrisa which you can pick from Waitrose and Sainbury’s. You’ll need to get the lamb leg butterflied and make sure all the external fat is removed to avoid flare up. If you’re not comfortable doing the butchery yourself  then drop us an email and we can do this for you.

Ingredients

Boneless leg of lamb – Butterfly cut and remove external fat.
5 tbsp of Belazu’s rose harrisa or any other Harrisa Paste that is available.

Cooking Instructions

  1. If not already prepared, butterfly cut your boneless leg of lamb and trim off any external fat. When butterfly cutting the aim is to get the leg as even a thickness as possible so it cooks evenly throughout.
  2. Rub 5 tablespoons of rose harrisa all over the leg of lamb ensuring you get the paste into all the nooks and crannies. Then leave to marinate for ideally 24 hours but 4/5 hours will work.
  3. Light your barbecue and let it heat up. Place the lamb on to the barbecue and keep turning reguarly trying to avoid excessive flare up. Try to get a nice crust on the outside of the meat.
  4. I recommend cooking to about 55° C if you like your lamb pink, 65° C if you like it more well done. Use a digital temperature probe to check the temperature or make a small incision on the thickest part of the leg while cooking to check.
  5. Once the leg is cooked make sure you allow it to rest for 20 mins. I recommend you cover with tinfoil and place in a top oven at 60/80° C to keep warm.
  6. When ready to serve, cut into slices and pour over meat juices from the chopping board.
Notes
  1. Plain yoghurt with some finely chopped mint and lemon juice added.
  2. A cous cous salad. I recommend this recipe from Jamie Olivers first book
  3. A good bottle of shiraz.

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