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Cardrona Merino pot-roast with rosemary and garlic, olive mash and anchovy butter

serves 5

1 tunnel boned or butter fly leg of Cardrona Merino Lamb(1kg)

2 sprigs of rosemary

1 bulb smoked garlic

Marlborough sea salt

Fresh cracked black pepper

2 carrots peeled and roughly diced

1 onion peeled and roughly diced

1 stalk of celery roughly diced

50 ml pomace olive oil

500ml home-made chicken stock

Butterfly the merino and place skin side down on chopping board, remove smoke garlic cloves from bulb, make small incisions evenly around meat and stuff with the garlic and rosemary leaves. Season well with the sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Tie the merino back up with butcher’s string.

Heat up your oven tray on top of the stove and add a little oil.  Season the merino and brown evenly all over. Remove merino, add the vegetables, rosemary stalks and any left over garlic, brown well. Place merino on top of the vegetables as a trivet and add hot stock to the pan.

Place in a pre heated oven at 160 degrees for 2 hours. When cooked remove from oven and allow to rest for 30 minutes in a warm place.

Anchovy butter

300grm unsalted butter softened

8 white anchovy’s

1tsp chopped rosemary

1tsp chopped parsley

20grm roasted garlic paste

Salt/pepper

Juice of one lemon

Place all ingredients into a mixer and mix well until light and fluffy, check seasoning and roll into cylinders in baking paper. Let set in the fridge until required.

Mash

5 large agria potatoes (skin on and washed)

100ml milk

60 ml extra virgin olive oil

75 gram chopped pitted kalamata olives

Salt/ white pepper

Bake potatoes on a tray of sea salt in the oven until very soft. Cut in half and push the warm potato through a drum sieve or potato mouli. Place in a pot with milk and oil, beat until a nice smooth consistency, add olives, taste and correct the seasoning.

Jus

300ml lamb stock

Juices from the pan

Add together and bring to a simmer skimming to remove the scum and fat particles.  Reduce until it coats the back of a spoon then strain through a fine strainer.

To serve

1 medium bunch washed watercress

Warm 5 plates and place a spoon of the mash slightly off centre.  Drizzle the bottom of the plates with the jus.  Next carve the merino evenly and place to the side of the mash and on top of the jus. P lace a bunch of watercress to one side and top with slices of anchovy butter to melt over the Cardrona Merino Lamb. Enjoy.

Paul McArthur

Head Chef

Mercure Leisure Lodge, Dunedin

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