pressure-cooked seasoned leg of lamb on a bed of aromatics, crisped in the oven, with the vegetables and broth pureed into a silky gravy

A Sunday roast is one of the meals people miss most once a diagnosis rearranges how they cook, the kind of meal that once meant everyone stayed at the table a little longer, and that can feel very far away in the early weeks of this protocol. This lamb gets you back most of that, in about 1 hour instead of 4.

Lamb gives you zinc, useful to the repair work already happening in your gut, and complete protein plus iron for rebuilding tissue. Cooked long against the broth the way this recipe does it, it also releases glycine, an amino acid your body uses as a building block for collagen. The pureed carrot, celery, and onion turn the cooking liquid into a gravy with no flour anywhere near it.

A whole leg of lamb feeds a table, and it deserves a proper season, a real rest before slicing, and a plate finished with parsley and a fresh squeeze of lemon. Cooking it slow and unhurried like this honors where the meat came from.

Ingredients

• 3 to 4 pounds boneless leg of lamb
• Salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 large carrots, roughly chopped
• 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup bone broth
• 1 lemon
• Parsley, for garnish

Method

(Instant Pot)

Season the lamb all over with salt, the thyme, and the garlic powder. Set the Instant Pot to saute, add the olive oil, and brown the lamb on a couple of sides for deeper flavor, then turn it off.

Scatter the chopped onion, carrots, and celery in the bottom of the pot and pour in the bone broth. Set the lamb on top of the vegetables. Lock the lid, set to high pressure, and cook for about 60 to 75 minutes, then let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes before opening.

Lift the lamb onto a baking sheet and crisp the edges under a hot broiler or in a 425 F oven for about 8 to 12 minutes, watching closely. While it crisps, blend the cooking vegetables and broth until smooth to make the gravy, and season with salt and a squeeze of lemon.

Slice or pull the lamb, spoon the gravy over, and finish with chopped parsley and another squeeze of lemon. Serve warm.

Slow cooker variation

Brown the seasoned lamb in a skillet, then layer the onion, carrots, and celery in the slow cooker, add the bone broth, and set the lamb on top. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours until it falls apart. Crisp the lamb in the oven, blend the vegetables and broth into gravy, and finish with lemon and parsley as above.

Oven variation

Heat the oven to 300 F. Brown the seasoned lamb in a heavy ovenproof pot, add the aromatics and broth, cover tightly, and braise for about 3 to 4 hours until fork-tender. Uncover and raise the heat to 425 F for the last 10 minutes to crisp, then blend the vegetables and broth into gravy and finish as above.

*Adapted from gutsybynature.com*