Sunday roast on the gas barbecue
Here’s a great way to combine two age-old Kiwi traditions: the Sunday roast and the barbecue! Your gas barbecue is so versatile, you can cook the roast and the veg at the same time.
For all the weekend chefs out there, this is our favourite family recipe. It’s quick and incredibly easy.
Prepare your ingredients
Ask your butcher to butterfly a leg of lamb, then choose a selection of seasonal veggies.
Mix a tablespoon each of coarse sea salt, black peppercorns and dried oregano and grind roughly together.
Massage a splash of olive oil into the meat side of the lamb, followed by the salty herb mix.
Put the lamb into a zip lock bag or glass bowl with a sprig of rosemary or two and a couple of crushed cloves of garlic. Leave overnight in the fridge. Massage the bag a couple of times or turn the roast in the bowl.
Take it out of the fridge a half hour or so before cooking to allow the meat to come up to room temperature (a great tip for any barbeque meat as it helps keep the barbecue temperature up).
Cut courgettes into four lengthwise, quarter a red onion leaving the root end on to help keep it together and cut a kumara in thick slices. Toss all the vegetables in a bit of oil – just enough to lightly coat.
Heat up the barbeque and start cooking
Get your gas barbeque really hot, wire-brush the grid, and then turn it down to medium.
Put the lamb on fat side up, which helps avoid flare ups. If your barbecue is big enough, place the veggies around the sides. The great thing about gas is you can set the burners to different levels according to what you’re cooking.
Now close the lid for 15 to 25 minutes, depending on the thickness of the lamb. Keep an eye on it – a lot of smoke is a warning sign, but you can just open the lid until things calm down a little. If you’re limited for space do the veggies first and then set them aside, loosely covered.
After the allotted time, turn the lamb to get a nice crisp on the fat side. You should find the courgette and onions cooked perfectly, charred and sticky in places. Remove to a plate, drizzle with good oil and season to taste.
Check the kumara slices – if you can pierce them with a knife they’re done. Flip them to get some colour on the other side and leave along with the lamb for another 10 or 15 minutes or remove sooner if done. Thanks to the precision of gas, the lamb will be smoky, garlicky, and deliciously singed in places.
Dish up and enjoy
Leave the lamb to rest, covered with foil, for a good quarter of an hour before carving. Because of the varying thickness, there’ll be meat cooked to suit everyone’s taste – from pink in the thicker parts to well-done down near the always-contested knuckle end!
If there are any leftovers (which is unlikely once everyone’s been back for seconds…) cut the lamb into smaller, chunkier pieces and stuff into pita bread toasted on the barbecue for a couple of minutes, along with the veggies topped with hummus or tzatziki, and a smear of hot harissa.
Remember, always keep a filled 9kg LPG bottle at home, for when the Sunday roast mood takes you. You can refill it at any Rockgas partner service station.
