Slow cooked leg of lamb

If like me you have a slow cooker you may have already tried your hand at a curry, or lamb shanks, or soup.  But something that I hadn’t thought to try until recently is a whole leg of lamb in there.  The hours of slow cooking give this large cut of meat a chance to become super tender – you could cut the meat with a spoon.  The great thing is that it looks like you’ve spent hours in the kitchen when actually it takes less than 10 mins to prepare.

Ingredients (serves 6 depending on the size of your lamb)

1 large leg of lamb – if you don’t think it will fit in your slow cooker, ask the butcher to cut the shank off and place this into the cooker separately

1 bulb of garlic (or 4 tbsp minced)

1 large sprig of rosemary (or 2 tbsp dried)

1 cup red wine

1 can diced tomatoes

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large pan on the stove and brown your lamb all over.  This may be a little tough due to the shape of a lamb leg, but just do your best.  Browning gives it more flavour as it gives you crispy bits on the outside.

2. Place the can of tomatoes on the bottom of the slow cooker.  Add the lamb and then and pour over the wine.  Rub the garlic and rosemary all over the lamb, then season with salt and pepper. 

3. Cook on low for 6-8 hrs (I accidentally cooked it for 9 hrs once and it was still great).  Serve with roast vegetables + peas; then you can use the leftovers the next day for sandwiches