Instructions: Preheat oven to 220C/gas7. Make small incisions all over lamb with tip of sharp knife. Peel garlic & cut into slivers. Insert into incisions with spearmint leaves. Rub lamb with a little softened butter. Season lightly.

Heat a griddle or large skillet until evenly hot. Sear meat on all sides to seal.

Transfer lamb to a roasting tin. Roast in a preheated oven for 50 minutes, turning lamb once during cooking. Prepare cherry & spearmint compote while lamb is cooking. Strip leaves from a good handful of spearmint. Place on a chopping board and sprinkle with sugar. Chop finely.

Heat crab apple jelly in a small pan. Add chopped mint & continue to heat until jelly has melted & there are no lumps.

Add a squeeze of lemon juice if necessary to enliven flavours. Remove pan from heat. Stone & add cherries. The heat from jelly will be quite enough to soften cherries without allowing then to cook down to a pulp. Cool & chill lightly before serving.

Test lamb by inserting a skewer into thickest part of meat & holding it there for a count of 10. Touch skewer to your lips, if it feels hot meat is cooked. Transfer lamb to a warming oven for 10 minutes before carving.

Carve lamb & serve overlapping slices with cherry & spearmint compote served separately.

If you would like to email yourself the recipe for later use, or share the recipe with your friends or family, enter the email addresses below and this recipe will be emailed to you and others as well.