Leg of Lamb in a Pastry Crust

Ingredients (for 2 to 3 persons):

1 leg of lamb - weighing no more than 1500 grams.
half a cup of bouillon
500 - 600 grams of rye flour pastry dough

For the vegetable marinade:

onions, carrots, parsley, coriander, tomatoes, a little lime juice
1 glass of sparkling mineral water
lamb spice, salt and a little adshika ( a spicy Georgian red pepper paste).

To accompany it:

cherry tomatoes, shallots, honey, lime juice, oil, salt and sugar

750 grams pink potatoes, oil, herbs

Leg of Lamb:

Remove the bone from the joint and place in the vegetable marinade for two days.
Tie up with roasting thread and fry in a pan until lightly browned.
Strain the vegetables from the marinade and add the bouillon. Pour some of the liquid over the meat.
Preheat the oven to 200 Celsius and roast the leg of lamb for about 25 minutes. Keep basting the joint with the bouillon.

Remove from the oven and cool for about 5 minutes. Unwrap the joint and remove the thread.

Pastry dough:

Take 500 - 600 grams of ready prepared rye flour pastry. Roll the pastry into two equal squares, about 35cm x 35cm and 5 cm thick

Place one piece of pastry on a tray and baste it with egg white. Put the leg of lamb on the pastry.

Baste the other piece of pastry with egg white and cover the lamb joint, with the coated side on the inside.

Carefully press the two pieces of pastry together so that the leg of lamb is completely enclosed in pastry.

If desired, decorate the pastry ... perhaps in an animal shape.

At the base, make a hole about 2cm across, and form a tube so that excess juices can flow out.

Preheat the oven to 200 Celsius and bake the lamb in pastry for 20 minutes.

Pour out the juices through the tube and collect in a jug to use for the gravy.

Carry the lamb in pastry to the table, cut around the base, lift off the "lid" and carve the roast lamb into serving portions.

Do not serve the pastry crust.

Serve with:

Cherry tomatoes dressed with oil, salt and sugar. Roast them in a 150C oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

Heat the shallots with oil, a little honey and lime juice.

Cut the pink potatoes into six and cook in boiling water for 5 to 7 minutes. Drain, place on a roasting tray, sprinkle with oil and herbs. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes at 200C.

Wine:

To accompany leg of lamb in a pastry crust, Andrei Machov recommends Mukuzani ... a Georgian dry red wine.