How to cook delicious roast lamb

Mix the mint and rosemary in a pestle & mortar with the salt and olive oil until combined into a thick rub.

Make incisions in the lamb 3-4 cm deep. Make one by the bone at each end and 6-8 others in various places around the lamb.

Use your finger to widen each of the incisions you have made, creating a series of small holes.

Apply the rub to the surface of the lamb ensuring it is well covered and push some of the rub into each of the holes.

Take some strips of the pancetta and role them up. Place one into each of the holes in the lamb.

Place the lamb joint directly onto the bars of the oven, preheated to 180 degrees. Place a roasting tin underneath to catch all the juices from the meat as it roasts.

Peel, cut and par boil the potatoes. Drain them and give them a brief shake in the pan to roughen the edges. A little over 1hr before you want to eat add some oil to the juices in the roasting tin.

When the oil and juices are smoking hot add the potatoes to the tin. Ensure they are well coated with the oil.

Peel the carrots and cut to roughly the same size.

Remove the heart from the cabbage and cut into thin shreds.

Half an hour before you want to eat add the carrots to the tin of potatoes.

When the lamb has cooked to your liking remove it from the oven and leave it to rest for approximately 15 minutes.

Make a simple butter roux and add some chicken stock to make a thick sauce.

Add some mint sauce to taste to the sauce.

When you are ready to plate up briefly blanch the cabbage in boiling, salted water and then drain. They should still be al dente. Return the cabbage to the pan, off the heat, and add the sauce.

Plate up and serve with mint sauce and a good red wine. Enjoy.