Red meat is hard to beat!

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My mom always likes to remind me that when I was little I always used to ask for as much meat on my plate as my dad as it wasn’t fair he got more than me!

I am the same now, carnivorous through and through and Freddie is just the same. Just like his Dad and me, he could eat a roast dinner every, single, day.

As Freddie has a lower nutritional intake because of his dairy allergy, one of the ways I boot this without supplements is by ensuring he has red meat a few times a week. Red meat provides a range of important nutrients including iron, zinc, B vitamins, selenium and potassium. These are often low in toddlers and children so it’s healthy to keep them topped up. Red meat has taking a bit of a bashing in the press lately which is really taking away from its nutritional value. Dr Emma Derbyshire, a public health nutritionist and mother, says: “Including a small portion of red meat in the diet a few times a week after weaning can help to bridge nutrient gaps and so help to maintain good health throughout childhood and

beyond.”

My favourite red meat has to be juicy, succulent roast leg of lamb. It’s perfect for a Sunday dinner or majestic enough for a celebration dinner. As the saying goes “the nearer the bone, the sweeter the meat” as this is so true for lamb.

We had our lamb as a much needed roast dinner and it’s something we all get involved in as a family. Freddie washes and chooses the veg, hubby sorts the roasters and carves the meat and I babysit the meat whilst it’s cooking in the oven, like precious treasure.

Perfect roast lamb

A leg of lamb about 2kg

Salt

Pepper

Rosemary (if liked)

Take the lamb out of the packaging and let it breathe for a little while before placing in the oven
Preheat the oven to 160c/gas mark 3
Season the joint all over with a good layer of salt and pepper. If using rosemary I dip it in water first to help it not to brown as quickly. Cut some small slits in the lamb and push in the rosemary sprigs.
Add 200ml of water to the roasting pan and cover the lamb with foil. Leave to cook how you like it, about 3- 3.5 hours. We like ours pink in the middle but have it cooked a little more for some family members.
Take the meat out the pan, saving the juice and leave to rest. I can’t stress how much of a difference this makes to the succulence of the lamb. Cover well and leave for half an hour AT LEAST.
Thicken the saved juices with some gravy granules making sure you loosen the dark meaty bits at the bottom for a hearty gravy.
Serve with your favourite roast dinner accompaniments!