Ingredients
1 leg of lamb, hip joint removed (sometimes sold as Ezicarve), about 2kg/4½lb in weight
4 garlic cloves, cut into slivers
6 anchovy fillets, quartered
freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
10-12 branches of rosemary
100g/3½oz black olive paste (or pitted kalamanta olives, puréed)
½ lemon, juice only
Method
1. Dry the lamb well and hang or rest in a cool, dry place until its surface is dry to the touch (this makes all the difference to the flavour).
2. Trim off and discard any excess fat.
3. Make incisions all over the meat using a small, sharp knife, creating small pockets about 2cm/1in deep.
4. Stuff a garlic sliver and piece of anchovy into each incision, then season the surface well with pepper.
5. Heat half the oil in a flameproof heavy-duty baking pan and brown the lamb on all sides over a medium to high heat.
6. Allow to cool and preheat oven to 200C/400F/Gas7.
7. Stretch a good length of kitchen string along the work surface and overlap the branches of rosemary along the length of the string.
8. Smear the lamb with the olive paste and place it on the rosemary at one end. Roll it up so that it's completely encased in the rosemary and tie the string tightly to secure (it doesn't matter how crudely you do this, as long as the rosemary stays in place).
9. Return the lamb to the baking pan, drizzle with the remaining oil and the lemon juice and place in the oven.
10. Roast for 15 minutes per 500g/1lb2oz, plus 15 minutes more, turning occasionally to cook evenly.
11. Remove from the oven and rest the meat for one-third of the time it took to cook (this ensures a perfectly pink result).
12. Reserve the rosemary for garnish, carve and serve.
