Dry your lamb with kitchen towel – this helps it to brown nicely.

Pre-set your oven to 230°C (450°F/Gas 8)

Brush the lamb with melted butter or use a mix of butter and olive oil.

Place the lamb in the roasting tin and put into the pre-heated oven for about 15 minutes.

Turn and baste the lamb every 15 minutes, or until it starts to brown on all sides.

Now re-set your oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4) and continue cooking for about 30 minutes.

Place your carrots and onions around the lamb. Some recipes suggest putting them in at the start, but I find that they will cook before the meat and sometimes burn, so leave them until about 30 minutes into the cooking time.

Place the garlic cloves, in their jackets, around the meat 30 minutes before the meat is ready.

Continue to cook your lamb for about 1 hour or until it is how you like it. If you want your lamb rare, cook for about 1–1½ hours, leave it a little longer if you want it cooked medium rare.

Place your roast leg of lamb on a warm  plate. Allow it to 'rest' for about 30 minutes before carving. (This is the time that I start to cook the potatoes and green beans I serve with it) 

Remove most of the fat out of the roasting pan.

Add the stock or bouillon and bring to the boil.

Scrape all the meat juices and mash the vegetables into the stock as it makes a very tasty gravy. Squeeze the garlic out of their jackets if you have cooked these as well and mash into the gravy.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

When ready to serve, strain all the gravy into a sauce boat.