Home News Cook gammon that’s ‘astonishingly tender’ with Nigella Lawson’s recipe – no need...

Cook gammon that’s ‘astonishingly tender’ with Nigella Lawson’s recipe – no need to boil


Nigella Lawson has shared a plethora of recipes over the years that have been adored – one of which is her slow-cooked ham recipe.

Gammon is essentially a rich and generous joint of meat that can be eaten hot or cold.

Just as perfect paired with roast potatoes and gravy as it is added into a sandwich or mixed into a summer salad, a joint of gammon – or ham as it’s called once it’s cooked – is simple to prepare.

Instead of being boiled and then transferred to a hot oven to be glazed, Nigella Lawson cooks the ham slowly in the oven wrapped in foil so that it “steams sweetly” in the low heat.

Cooked like this, the expert claimed: “The meat is astonishingly tender and carves into thin slices with ease. There is also very little shrinkage, and no wrangling with large joints of meat in boiling liquid.”

Ingredients 

3.5kg joint boneless gammon, rind on

150g black treacle

For the glaze

One tablespoon whole cloves

Four tablespoons black treacle

Four tablespoons demerara sugar

One tablespoon Dijon mustard

Method 

Start by preheating the oven to 250C/230C Fan/Gas 9 and let the gammon joint come to room temperature for at least an hour.

After, line a large roasting tin with a layer of foil, and then sit a wire rack on top of this foil. Tear off a large piece of foil (big enough to wrap around the ham) and place this over the rack on the roasting tin. Tear off a second, large piece of foil and place on top, but in the opposite way to the first, so you have four corners of foil ready to wrap your ham in.

Sit the gammon on the foil and then pour the black treacle over it, straight onto the rind, letting it run down both sides. Don’t worry too much about spreading it over the ham, as once it’s in the heat of the oven, it will coat the ham well enough.

Now lift the sides and ends of the first layer of foil and make a seal at the top, leaving some room around the gammon, then seal the ends. Then take up the other piece of foil and do the same.

You are trying to create a good seal around the gammon, so pinch together any open gaps that remain. Finally, tear off another piece of foil and put it over the top of the whole parcel, making sure it’s well sealed.

Put the gammon carefully into the oven and let it cook for 30 minutes, then turn the oven down to 100C/80C Fan/Gas one quarter and leave for a further 12 to 24 hours.

The following day, take the gammon out of the oven and open up the foil seal. It will have made some liquid, which you can reserve to moisten the carved meat later. Carefully lift the gammon out onto a board, remove the string and peel off the rind to leave a good layer of fat.

Increase the oven temperature to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6 and using a sharp knife, cut a diamond pattern in the fat layer, drawing lines one way and then the opposite way, about 2cm apart.

Stud the centre of each diamond with a clove, then mix the black treacle, demerara sugar and Dijon mustard in a bowl and spread over the fat on the ham.

It will dribble off a bit, so just spoon it back over the gammon before putting it back in the oven for 20 minutes, by which time the glaze will be burnished and blistered in the heat.

Remove from the oven, and transfer to a board. Let it rest for 10 to 20 minutes before carving into thin slices.

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