Name: Ham baked in hay with roast carrot and barley salad
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 135 min
Total time: 155 min
Yield: 10 - 12
Ingredients: 850 gm pearl barley; 1.2 kg baby carrots; Unsprayed hay; 1 leg ham (about 5kg); 400 gm soft goat's cheese; 2 cups (loosely packed) flat-leaf parsley; Lemon dressing; 250 ml (1 cup) extra virgin olive oil; 80 ml (1/3 cup) lemon juice; 2 tbsp brown sugar; 2 tbsp Dijon mustard; Finely grated zest of 2 lemons

Ham baked in hay with roast carrot and barley salad

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for ham baked in hay with roast carrot and barley salad.

Serves 10 - 12

Prep

20M

Cook

2H 15M

Total

2H 35M

The hay imparts the most wonderful earthy flavour to the ham in this recipe and the effort required is minimal. The hardest part, if you live in the city, will be finding the hay. A pet shop is a good place to start.

Ingredients

850 gm pearl barley

1.2 kg baby carrots

Unsprayed hay

1 leg ham (about 5kg)

400 gm soft goat's cheese

2 cups (loosely packed) flat-leaf parsley

Lemon dressing

250 ml (1 cup) extra virgin olive oil

80 ml (1/3 cup) lemon juice

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

Finely grated zest of 2 lemons

Method

Main

1.Cook barley in a large saucepan of boiling salted water over high heat to soften (15 minutes). Add carrots and cook until carrots and barley are tender (5-10 minutes). Drain and set aside to cool.

2.Preheat oven to 180C. Spread hay over the base of a roasting pan or cast-iron pot large enough to fit ham snugly. Place ham on top, drizzle with 600ml water and cover with more hay. Cover with a tight-fitting lid or several layers of foil and bake until ham is deep golden in colour, and beginning to recede from the bone at the hock (2-2¼ hours).

3.For lemon dressing, shake ingredients in a sealed jar to combine, season to taste.

4.To serve, arrange barley and carrots on a platter, scatter with goat’s cheese and parsley, drizzle with lemon dressing and serve with sliced hay-baked ham.