Bulgarian-Style Rolled Lamb with Rice and Salad

Ingredients for 4 people:

Rolled lamb

- 750g lamb belly or leg

- 50g onion

- 1 tsp salt

- 1 pinch of savory

- ½ tsp black pepper

- ½ tsp red paprika (spicy)

- ½ tsp dried mint

- 1 liter water

- 250ml white wine

Rice

- 200g white basmati rice

- 200g mushrooms

- 20g raisins

- 1 pinch saffron

- salt and pepper

Sauce

- 30g butter

- 10g flour

- 250ml roast lamb stock

Salad

- 200g lollo bionda

- 75g rucola

- 1 bunch parsley

Salad dressing

- juice of half a lemon

- 2 desert spoon olive oil

- salt and pepper

Season the lamb with chopped onion and the spices and herbs. Roll it up and bind it with cooking twine. Place the meat on a baking tray and add oil, white wine and water. Roast the lamb for three to four hours at 180 degrees Celsius, baste regularly with the liquid.

Boil the basmati rice in salt water. Clean the mushrooms, slice them in half and boil. Fry the boiled mushrooms in oil. Add the boiled rice and the raisins. Season with saffron, salt and pepper and stir.

Clean the salad and rip off small pieces by hand. Chop the parsley and add to the salad leaves. Mix the lemon juice wuth salt, pepper and olive oil and mix into the salad.

Heat 250ml of lamb stock in a saucepan . Add butter and the cooking juices and thicken with flour or starch. Take the lamb out of the oven after three hours and cut into 1 cm thick slices. Finally grill the slices for a few minutes with the sauce and serve.

Guten Appetit!

This recipe comes to us from Chef Georgi Tashev of the Hebros Hotel and Restaurant in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.