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Ratatouille with olive-stuffed lamb

Preparation time
1-2 hours

Cooking time
over 2 hours

Serves
Serves 4-6

By Matt Tebbutt
From Saturday Kitchen

Ingredients

For the lamb

  • 50g/1¾oz baby spinach
  • 1 leg of lamb, lower longer bone removed, top bone in place
  • olive oil, for cooking
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the tapenade

  • 300g/10½oz good-quality pitted black olives
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1 tbsp capers, drained
  • 3 anchovy fillets
  • 50ml/2fl oz olive oil
  • pinch cayenne pepper
  • 1 tbsp chopped thyme
  • 1 tbsp chopped marjoram

For the sauce

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 red onion, finely chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1 stick rosemary
  • 5 anchovy fillets
  • 1 tbsp caster sugar
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 800g/1lb 12oz chopped tinned tomatoes
  • basil stalks
  • 1 bay leaf

For the ratatouille

  • 6 ripe plum tomatoes, sliced
  • 100g/3½oz green courgettes, sliced
  • 200g/7oz yellow courgettes, sliced
  • 200g/7oz aubergines, sliced
  • 1 tbsp chopped thyme
  • 100ml/3½fl oz olive oil
  • 1 bunch basil, leaves only

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 240C/220C Fan/Gas 8.

  2. To make the lamb, bring a large pan of water to the boil, add the spinach and cook briefly until wilted. Quickly remove the spinach from the pan, drain and squeeze out any excess water. Set aside.

  3. To make the tapenade, blend all the tapenade ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth.

  4. To finish preparing the lamb, open the boned leg up and rub with the tapenade. Scatter over the spinach, roll up and tie together with kitchen string. Rub the leg in olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place the lamb on an oven tray and roast for an hour, before turning the oven down to 140C/120C Fan/Gas 2 and cook for another 20–30 minutes. Remove from the oven, cover and leave in a warm place to rest for 45 minutes.

  5. To make the sauce, heat the olive oil in a pan and fry the red onion, garlic, rosemary and anchovies until the onion has softened. Add the sugar and vinegar and then the tinned tomatoes, basil stalks and bay leaf. Simmer for 40 minutes to thicken.

  6. To make the ratatouille, set the oven to 150C/130C Fan/Gas 2 and spoon the warm sauce into a baking dish. Layer in the plum tomatoes, courgettes, aubergine, thyme and basil. Douse with olive oil and cook for around an hour, until soft. Scatter over the basil before serving.

  7. To serve, carve the lamb, spoon over any resting juices, and serve the lamb with the ratatouille.

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