WSS Food: Five Ways To Use Leftover Roast Lamb

It’s Spring lamb season and legs of lamb are reasonably priced at the moment. Last weekend, I bought a huge leg for $23. Ok, so it might sound expensive to buy initially but the leg made three different meals for a family of four and two lots of sandwiches for us all. It worked out to be roughly $5 for the main meals.

Even a month ago, $20 would only buy a half kilo leg of lamb, if you were lucky. Now you are looking at obtaining a two kilo leg of lamb for the same amount. I love using one item for lots of different meals and saving money, so here are my top five meals for using left over roast lamb:

Shepherd’s Pie

• 700 g potatoes, peeled, quartered
• 1/3 cup milk, heated
• 45 g butter, chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• 400 g can crushed tomatoes with mixed herbs
• 1 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• Leftover roast lamb, carrot and parsnip, finely chopped
• Green salad, to serve

1. Place the potato in a saucepan. Cover with water. Season with salt. Bring to the boil. Boil for 20-25 minutes or until tender. Drain. Return to the pan over low heat for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add the milk and 30g of the butter. Mash until smooth. Season.
2. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 220°C or 200°C fan. Heat the oil in a large deep frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook the onion, stirring, for 5 minutes or until softened. Add the tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, lamb, carrot, parsnip and 1/2 cup water. Bring to the boil.
3. Transfer the lamb mixture to a 5-cup baking dish. Cover with mash and rough up with fork. Dot with remaining butter and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden and bubbling hot. Serve with salad.

Leg of Lamb Ragu

• Leftover Leg-of lamb meat – cut off the bone and diced
• leftover stock
• 1 tin of whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 sachet of tomato puree
• 1 large onion – diced finely
• 2 carrots – diced finely
• 2 sticks of celery – diced finely
• 2 cloves of garlic- chopped
• olive oil
• 1 bay leaf
• grated fresh nutmeg
• salt/pepper
• 1 cup red wine
• 2-3 pieces of streaky bacon – diced
• a pinch of sugar

Heat the oil in a pot and add the bacon. Fry until partially cooked and then add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Saute slightly and add all other ingredients. Cook the sauce for about 30-40 minutes until all the flavors have mingled nicely. Check for seasoning and adjust if necessary. A pinch of sugar make a huge difference.
Serve on a bowl of hot pasta, mashed potato, rice or polenta.

Lamb Curry