Leg of fresh Scottish lamb baked in hay

• By Nick Camilleri Preziosi and Alex Mattei

You will need:

A 2kg to 3kg leg of fresh Scottish lamb, a few handfuls of hay, 125g of soft butter, two cloves of garlic (crushed), several sprigs each of rosemary, marjoram and thyme (chopped), salt and pepper.

Choose a deep roasting-tin, preferably with a lid. If you don t have one with a lid you can use foil instead. Line the base generously with loose hay, to a thickness of 5-6cm. To the soft butter, add the chopped herbs and garlic, plenty of black pepper and a little salt, and mix well. Smear this in a thick, even layer all over the lamb. Place the meat on its nest of hay, and cover it with more hay. Put on the lid or a double layer of foil wrapped well around the edge of the dish. Make sure there are no loose bits of hay poking out, as they may catch fire. Bake this for two to two-and-a-half hours in the centre of the oven, which should be preheated to gas mark 7/220C. The cooking-time depends on the weight of the leg. Remove it from the oven when it is done, and leave to stand for at least 20 minutes. Then take off the lid, scrape away the blackened hay and carve the meat as normal. Any juices from the pan can be poured off and used for gravy.