Roast lamb with pine nuts and basil

Spring is the season to eat lamb. Ask you butcher to tunnel bone a leg of lamb for you, this removes the bones, leaving a long cavity for the stuffing.

• serves

  4

Ingredients

6 slices bacon

100g pine nuts

1 cup basil leaves

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

50g grated parmigiano reggiano

1 boned lamb leg

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180C. In the food processor, pulse bacon until coarsely chopped, add pine nuts, basil, salt and pepper. Pulse again, leaving it as chunky as possible. Then add parmigiano reggiano, mix to incorporate and then stuff into the boned lamb leg. Cook in preheated oven for 1–1½ hours. Remove from the oven; rest for 20 minutes in a warm place before carving.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.