Essentially Marco

The one-time enfant terrible of the kitchen reveals his philosophy.

“ There is something about weekend cooking that means you have more time to cook a family roast, but it doesn’t need to be difficult.

For a lamb leg with great flavour, look for a new season spring lamb. The combination of lamb with anchovies in this recipe may sound odd, but it really works – the savouriness of the anchovies brings out the best in the meat without tasting fishy, and the rosemary creates a special combination. I believe a good roast is truly at the heart of British food, and this lovely recipe is something I remember both my father and my grandfather cooking.

A little trick with roasts is to use a meat probe or thermometer. Just push it into your meat once it’s out of the oven and it tells you the exact temperature of your meat. When you take your lamb out of the oven, you can rest it, as the recipe suggests, or pop it back into the oven and turn the oven off, then leave it there for 15 to 20 more minutes. If your meat was 46 degrees Celsius, it might go up to 48 or a bit higher, depending on your oven. This trick gets my lamb pink, and that’s how I like it.