RECIPES
Christmas time isn’ t complete without a leg of lamb on the table and, of course, fresh mint. As your festive centrepiece, this wholesome dish will impress your guests.
By Elmarie Berry, from her cookbook The Table
Serves 6 – 8
INGREDIENTS
• 2.25 – 2.7kg leg of lamb
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 ⁄ 4 cup loosely packed fresh mint, chopped or 2 tablespoons dried mint
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary, woody stems removed, chopped
• 2 garlic heads, sliced in half horizontally
• ¾ cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 cup port wine
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 8 large black figs, some halved, some left whole
• pomegranate seeds, for garnish
METHOD
1. Preheat the oven to 160 ° C.
2. Place the leg of lamb in a large, deep roasting tray, with the fatty side facing down. Drizzle generously with oil all over the meat and season both sides well with the mint, salt, pepper, and chopped rosemary.
3. Arrange the garlic head halves around it, then combine the vinegar, port, and white wine and pour it around the meat. Cover with a lid or foil and roast for 3 hours. Remove from the oven, then use tongs to turn the leg over with the fatty side up. Cover and roast for another 2 hours.
4. Remove the tray from the oven and increase the temperature to 200 ° C. Return the leg to the oven for 20 minutes, then add the figs around the meat and roast for a further 10 minutes – the figs should be just warm and soft, but not falling apart.
5. Garnish with the pomegranate seeds. 6. Serve warm on the tray as a festive centrepiece.
100 INBOUND SA / DECEMBER 2025