Ingredients

Serves 4-6 as a main course

1 lemon
1 X 1.5-1.75kg new season's leg of lamb, trimmed of excess fat
Salt
1 tbsp of finely cracked black pepper
1 tbsp of picked thyme leaves
Cooking oil, plus more for greasing
1 tbsp of runny honey
150ml of white wine
300ml of stock or water
150ml double cream

For The Potatoes

900g - 1.25kg large potatoes preferably Maris Piper or Deesiree, peeled
50-100g melted butter, plus extra for brushing
Salt andd pepper

For The Broccoli

1kg of purple sprouting broccoli spears
Knob of butter

Method

1) To cook the potatoes, preheat the oven to 220C.  For a neater finish, it's bets to peel three or four of the larger potatoes leaving them a smooth almost cylindrical shape.  Slicing the length wise before drying on kitchen paper, provides the right length of slice to line a cake tin.  It's also best to cut two of these potatoes 2mm / 1/2 inch thick.  A mandolin slicer will obviously make this easier.  All remaining potatoes are best sliced lengthwise very thinly. 

2) Use a 17.5 x 8-10 cm (7 X 3-4 in) cake tin and brush well with some melted butter, saving the remainder to work through the potatoes. 100g / 4oz is listed as an optional quantity to use which does look and sound extravagant - and that it is too.  It is not essential but will leave you with a very rich memorable flavour.  For the most attractive of finishes use a disc of 5cm can be cut from one of the slices and placed in the centre of the base of the tin.  Place the thinner slices, also overlapping and standing upright., around the edge of the tin, making sure 1cm (1/2 in) is folded and pressed onto the base.  This helps the whole cake turn out with a gateau like presentation. 

3) To finish place the remaining potato slices in a bowl, season with salt and pepper and mix with the remaining melted butter.  Pack and press these into the tin until they are all used.  Any overhanging side slices can be folded back in and pressed in to the 'cake.'  Cover with foil, pressing it down firmly against the potatoes and place in the oven.

4) The potatoes take approximately 1 - 1.5 hours which is perfect timing  for the lamb's roasting and resting time. After 30 minutes, remove the foil from the cake tin and continue to cook until tender and golden brown.  To check the potatoes are completely tender, pierce with a knife.

5) It's always best to allow the lamb a resting time of 5-10 minutes before turning out the cake.  To do so, gently loosen the edge from the tin with a small knife, then place a large flat baking tray over the cake tin and turn it over.  The cake will now fall from the tin onto the tray.  The top of the cake may well still be opaque and not completely coloured.  If so, lightly brush with butter and place under a pre-heated grill to brown. 

6) To prepare the lamb, finely grate the zest from the lemon before cutting the fruit in two.  Rub one of the lemon halves over the leg of lamb, squeezing the juice.  Now sprinkle the leg with lemon zest, salt, cracked pepper and thyme leaves.  Put on a lightly oiled roasting tray and place in the oven.  Roasting from cold, without preliminary frying will always take longer.  For medium to rare meat cook for 1 hour 15 mins.

7) After the first 30 minutes of cooking, the lamb should be basted every 20 minutes.  For extra flavour basted every 20 minutes.  For extra flavour and finish to the lamb, 20 minutes before the cooking time is over, remove the leg from the tray and spoon over the honey.  Return to the oven and baste frequently.  As the honey cooks, it will reduce leaving a caramelised flavour.

8) Remove the leg from the oven and the roasting tray and allow to rest for a minimum of 15-20 minutes.  Pour away any extra excess fat from the tray leaving all residue behind.  A very sticky finish can be achieved by heating the tray on the stove.  Doing this will boil, reduce and thicken the residue for an even stronger caramelised flavour.  Pour in the white wine, which will instantly boil and sizzle lifting the flavours from the pan.  Once the wine is reduced by half, add the water or stock.  After just a few minutes of sizzling, the lamb-stock cooking liquor is formed and served as gravy.

9) For a lemon cream sauce finish, allow the stock to reduce by a third, then add the double cream and cook for a few minutes to thicken.  Add just enough of the juice from the remaining lemon half to enhance flavour and strain. 

10) The broccoli needs little preparation and cooking time.  The finer spears can be picked from the large central stalk, leaving any small leaves attached to them.  The large flower on top can now be cut off, leaving a good 5 cms of the stalk attached.  Place in boiling salted water and cook for 2-3 min.