Baked lamb with potatoes in red wine sauce

Inspired by various traditional recipes from around Greece this is a delicious idea for Sunday's dinner. You can substitute the mustard powder with classic jarred mustard but in this case it would be nice to add a little bit of dried or fresh thyme so to give an extra flavour

Adapted from a recipe of Kostas Tsigas,
from "Cook Book" magazine of "ETHNOS" newspaper

Ingredients (for 4-6 people):
2Kg of lamb (front legs), cut in portions
2Kg of potatoes, peeled and cut in cubes of 2x2cm
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 sprigs of fresh rosemary (I used oregano)
1-2 tbsp of honey
½ tsp of mustard powder
½ tea-cup of olive oil
2 large glasses of dry red wine
1/4 tsp of sugar
1 tea-cup of water
salt
pepper

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Spread the potatoes in an oven pan, scatter on top the chopped onion, sprinkle with the rosemary, drizzle with the olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Put in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.

In the meantime, rub the lamb portions with the honey. Season on all sides with salt and pepper and sprinkle with the ground mustard.

Take the pan out of the oven and add 1 glass of the wine. Using a spatula carefully scrape the bottom of the pan and then stir gently so not to destroy the potatoes. Add the second glass of the wine and the sugar, stir again and add the water.

Place the lamb portions on top of the potatoes and cover the pan well with a double layer of foil.

Put back in the oven and cook for 1-1 1/2 hours. Discard the foil and continue cooking for another 20-25 minutes until the food gets a nice golden colour and it is left with a nice caramelised sauce.

Serve immediately along with a nice crispy green salad.