Celebrate Mother’s Day with Executive Chef Kerry Kilpin’s roast leg of lamb – a recipe rooted in cherished childhood traditions around the family table and created to bring loved ones together in a meaningful way. 

Long before she was running the kitchens at Tryn and Bistro Sixteen82 at Steenberg Farm in Cape Town, Chef Kerry Kilpin’s love of food was shaped around the family table on the farm – through a ritual that carried both comfort and the bittersweet feeling of saying goodbye when she left for boarding school at the end of each holiday.   

“We would all sit down as a family for lunch, and it was, without a doubt, a roast leg of lamb with roast potatoes. There had to be extra roast potatoes, cauliflower with cheese sauce, another green vegetable, and loads of gravy,” recalls Kerry. 

When Kerry thinks back on those family lunches, it’s the little details that come rushing back – the smell of lamb drifting across the farm, the sneaky hands grabbing golden roast potatoes before they ever reached the table, the scramble for the best cuts and the playful fight with her brother over the prized ‘kinkle’ bone. Most of all, it was the joy of sitting down together, no distractions, just family. 

Cooking with heart, not perfection 

Today, Kerry carries that memory into her cooking at Steenberg, not replicating it exactly, but as something to reinterpret for modern life. “It’s those small tweaks, a bit of mustard in the cheese sauce or some wine in the gravy, that elevate it. But the heart of it is still the same.” 

Her Mother’s Day version of this classic roast is intentionally simple: a roast prepared with care, crispy potatoes, a comforting sauce and seasonal sides. 

“Food is connection,” Kerry says. “It’s about creating memories and time together. That’s what makes it special.” 

Spoil your family with Kerry’s version of this delicious roast this Mother’s Day: 

Chef Kerry Kilpin’s Roast Leg of Lamb recipe 

Ingredients 

1 leg of lamb roast
1 small onion, chopped
1 small carrot, chopped
3 cloves garlic
4 button mushrooms, sliced
1 sprig rosemary
5 sprigs thyme, picked
600ml beef or lamb stock
200ml Sauvignon Blanc (When making for a young family with children, I prefer to use white wine, this can be substituted with red wine.)
1 red onion or shallot, thinly sliced into rings
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon cornflour
Knob of butter
 

Method 

1. Preheat your oven to 200°C. 
2. Prepare your roasting tray by making a bed of vegetables using the chopped onion, carrot, garlic, mushrooms and rosemary. 
3. Season the lamb well with salt, pepper, picked thyme and lemon juice. Layer the top of the roast with the sliced onion and drizzle with olive oil. Place the lamb on top of the vegetable bed. Pour the stock and wine around the vegetables. 
4. Cover the roast with foil and cook for 30 minutes at 200°C. Reduce the oven temperature to 175°C and roast for a further 60-90 minutes, depending on the size of the joint and whether you are using a bone in or bone out. Bone in takes longer to cook. 
5. After 1 hour of cooking, remove the foil and allow the meat to brown until cooked to your preference. 
6. Remove from the oven and rest the meat for 10-15 minutes on a platter, loosely covered before carving. 
7. To make the gravy, remove the rosemary sprig. Blend the roasting juices and vegetables until smooth. Transfer to a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce to approximately 350ml, add a knob of butter and thicken with cornflour. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
    

Recipe: Chef Kerry Kipling
Photography: Supplied