Slow-cooked lamb with red peppers and chickpeas

Serves 4-6

The lamb is accompanied with a burst of summer vegetables and herbs (Helen Fickling)

Lovely, tender little legs of lamb arrived from Lake House along with salad leaves and vegetables. We decided to slow-cook the lamb and accompany it with a burst of summer vegetables and herbs.

1 leg of lamb, trimmed of most of its fat
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
700ml /241/2fl oz white wine
6 salted anchovies
10 cloves of garlic, peeled and just crushed
1 dried red chilli, crumbled
1/2tbsp fennel seeds
1 bunch of marjoram

For the red peppers and chickpeas

2 large red peppers, sliced in half, deseeded
80ml/3fl oz extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch of little plum tomatoes
1 bunch of marjoram
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
220g/71/2oz cooked chickpeas
A handful of rocket leaves

Heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas4. Now place a roasting pan on top of the stove over a medium heat. Season the lamb well all over with salt and pepper. Add a little oil to the roasting pan and, when hot, add the leg of lamb. Brown well all over – this will take a good 10 minutes. When the lamb is well-browned, remove from the heat, take out of the pan and set aside while you pour the fat in the pan away.

Return the roasting dish to the heat and deglaze it with the wine, allowing the wine to bubble and reduce slightly. Now add the anchovies, garlic, dried chilli, fennel seeds and marjoram.

Carefully return the lamb to the roasting tin, cover with foil and place in the warm oven. Cook for three hours, turning once or twice during that time. The meat should be meltingly tender and falling apart, while the sauce will be reduced, aromatic and intense in flavour.

While the meat is cooking, slice the peppers into thick two-inch strips and place in a roasting tray. Pour over the olive oil, season with salt and pepper and scatter over the little tomatoes and the marjoram. Cover in foil and place in the oven along with the lamb. Cook covered for half an hour, then remove from the oven and stir in the balsamic vinegar and the cooked chickpeas. Return to the oven and cook for a further half-hour uncovered then remove from the oven and stir in the rocket. Serve alongside the lamb.