Pot-roasted leg of lamb with black olives

Serves 6

This is alluring in a Provencal way and best enjoyed perhaps with some braised courgette flowers or roasted peppers. The Iamb is beautifully succulent and tender. Even after two hours in a low oven, it's still pink in the centre.

This is alluring in a Provencal way and best enjoyed perhaps with some braised courgette flowers or roasted peppers. The Iamb is beautifully succulent and tender. Even after two hours in a low oven, it's still pink in the centre.

3 tablespoons olive oil
2.7 kg/5lb 10oz leg of lamb
1 large onion, peeled, halved and sliced
2 tablespoons brandy
10 garlic cloves (1 head), peeled
1 beefsteak tomato, skinned, seeded and cut into strips
12 to 15 thyme sprigs, tied in a bundle with string
150ml/5fl oz red wine
Sea salt, black pepper
180g/6oz black olives, rinsed and pitted

Heat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas 3. Heat the olive oil in a large oval casserole and brown the lamb on all sides, then remove. Add the onion to the casserole and cook until it begins to caramelise. Return the Iamb. Heat the brandy in a ladle and ignite, then pour over the meat. Add the garlic, tomato, thyme, half the wine and seasoning. Cover and cook in the oven for one hour, turning halfway through.

Add the remaining red wine and the olives to the casserole and return to the oven for a further one hour. Take out of the oven and leave to rest for 15 minutes. Transfer the Iamb to a plate and carve. Skim off the surface fat from the cooking liquor and discard the thyme. Serve the lamb with the olives and cooking liquor.