Fr Alex's Recipes

Food

Slow roast lamb with ratatouille

All-in-one pan roast lamb with an aromatic coating and ratatouille-style vegetables. Once it’s in the oven you can forget about it for 4 hours. Great for feeding a crowd because you can make it in advance and forget about it.

INGREDIENTS

large leg of lamb, or shoulder, bone in, approx 2kg/4lb 8oz
3 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
1 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, sliced into slivers
3 onions, thickly sliced
2 red peppers, chopped into large pieces
1 large aubergine, chopped into large pieces
400g tin chopped tomatoes
300ml/½ pint beef or chicken stock
2 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste
3 fresh bay leaves
1 tbsp honey
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7.
Using a small sharp knife, make a series of small slits over the leg of lamb. Put 2 tablespoons of the thyme in a bowl with the paprika and oil, season and mix together. Spread the mixture over the lamb, insert the garlic slivers into the slits and season the lamb with salt and pepper. Put the onions into a large, deep roasting tin, sit the lamb on top and roast for about 40 minutes.
Reduce the oven temperature to 160C/140C Fan/Gas 3.
Scatter the peppers and aubergine around the lamb. Pour the tomatoes into a bowl, add the stock, tomato paste, the remaining thyme, bay leaves and honey, and stir to combine. Pour into the tin over the peppers and stir. Cover the whole tin with foil and return to the oven for about 4 hours, until the lamb is tender and falling off the bone.
Lift the lamb out of the tin and place on a large board. Spoon off any fat from the top of the sauce. Carve the meat into slices and serve with the vegetables.

Cocktail

Ingredients

(Serves 10) 1c = 250ml

3 c. pineapple juice
3 c. Carbonated water (i.e. Highland Spring / Pellegrino)
1 (750-mL.) bottle Prosecco
1 c. vanilla vodka
2 c. sliced pineapple
2 peaches, thinly sliced
1/4 c. fresh mint, plus more for garnish
3 c. Ice
10 wedges pineapple, for garnish
1/3 c. granulated sugar

Prosecco Punch

METHOD

Combine pineapple juice, seltzer, Prosecco, vodka, pineapple slices, peaches, and mint in a punch bowl. Add ice and stir to combine.
Using a wedge of pineapple, wet the rim of your glasses. Dip rims in sugar, then fill glasses with punch and garnish with a wedge of pineapple and a sprig of mint.

(To serve)

Prepare a glass by cutting a triangle of pineapple (see pic) and run it around the rim of the glass, then invert the glass into a saucer of sugar to coat the rim. Clip the pineapple onto the glass, fill your glass with this heavenly nectar and enjoy!