Butterflied leg of lamb with aubergine, roast tomatoes, mint, honey & preserved lemon relish

Name: Butterflied leg of lamb with aubergine, roast tomatoes, mint, honey & preserved lemon relish
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h 15 min
Total time: 1 h 35 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 2.4 kg whole leg of lamb, boned and butterflied; 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped; 1 tbsp olive oil; ½ onion, roughly chopped; 1 lemon, juice; 300 g Greek yogurt; 2 tbsp red wine vinegar; ½ tsp cayenne; 2 bay leaves

Diana Henry's showstopping centrepiece. She says 'the cooking time seems short, but cooking a boned and flattened piece of lamb leg is very different from cooking a whole leg. Make sure that the seasoning of the relish is good'.

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Serves8
CourseMain meal
Prepare20 mins
Cook1 hr 15 mins
Total time1 hr 35 mins
Plusmarinating

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For the lamb

2.4kg whole leg of lamb, boned and butterflied
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
½ onion, roughly chopped
1 lemon, juice
300g Greek yogurt
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
½ tsp cayenne
2 bay leaves

For the aubergines

3 large aubergines
500g cherry tomatoes, halved
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1½ tbsp olive oil
50g tahini paste
25g Greek yogurt
4 tsp lemon juice, or to taste
4 tsp extra virgin olive oil

For the relish

6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1½ tbsp white wine vinegar
2 preserved lemons, inner flesh removed, skin sliced into shreds
1½ tsp pickle juice from the preserved lemons
8 sprig/s sprigs mint, leaves, torn
1½ tbsp clear honey

To prepare the lamb, lay it out like a book and make incisions all over it. Sauté the garlic cloves in the oil until soft. Put the garlic and all the other lamb ingredients into a food processor and blitz. Put the lamb into a large container and rub the yogurt mixture all over, pushing as much as possible into the incisions. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for about 8 hours.
For the aubergines, preheat the oven to 200ºC, gas mark 6. Pierce them all over with a fork and put into a roasting tin. Halve the tomatoes and put on a baking sheet with a lip. Season and add the garlic. Cook the aubergines for 30 minutes, until completely soft. Drizzle the tomatoes with the oil, season and cook alongside the aubergines for about 20 minutes, until soft and slightly caramelised in patches.
Put the aubergines into a bowl, cover tightly and leave until cool. Peel the skin and chop the flesh until you have a coarse purée. Add the tahini, yogurt, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil and seasoning. Taste and adjust any components. Place into a broad shallow serving bowl and put the roast tomatoes on top. Serve at room temperature
Heat the oven to 230ºC, gas mark 8. Lift the lamb out of the yogurt (let the excess drip off), put in a roasting tin and cook for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 190ºC, gas mark 5, then cook the lamb for 20 minutes more for pink. This doesn’t sound long enough, but it’s a flat piece of meat, not a leg with a bone.
For the relish, put everything into a bowl and mix. Check for sweet-sour balance and seasoning. It’s important to get this right, so adjust it as you need to.
When the lamb is ready, cover with foil and clean tea towels, leave to rest for 15-20 minutes, then carve into slices. Spoon some relish over the aubergine purée and tomatoes, then serve the rest in a bowl.

Typical values per serving when made using specific products in recipe