By Christine Salins.
I’ve been spending a lot of time lately trawling through the posts in a Facebook group called My Efficient Electric Home. A number of posts have referred to the efficiency of airfryers versus ovens, and the consensus seems to be that the airfryer wins hands down.
Because it’s smaller and cooks in a fraction of the time an oven takes, the airfryer uses a lot less power, and we all know how critical that is right now.
If you’re cooking for a crowd, it’s understandable that you’d choose to use an oven over the airfryer. Even my large airfryer would have trouble turning out enough food for more than four, or at the very most, six people.
But for everyday cooking, the airfryer is great for turning out a quick meal, and the bonus is that you can cook dishes to crispy perfection without using much oil (sometimes even no oil). The airfryer is great for fried foods but until recently I hadn’t considered using it for other dishes.
Food stylist and recipe developer Elle Vernon has got me thinking about using it more broadly, after seeing her recipes for soups, roasts, Bolognese sauce, puddings and even a cheesy garlic pull-apart loaf. Her recipe for Rosemary and mint lamb roast featured here is perfect for winter.
Vernon is an ambassador for Philips and the recipe was created with the Philips Airfryer XXL in mind. I have the same airfryer and am very happy with it (and no, this is not a sponsored post – I bought mine a few years ago). If you are fortunate to have an airfryer at home, I can highly recommend playing around with it to see what dishes you can create too.
Rosemary and mint lamb roast with baby carrots
Serves 4 to 6
2 x 450-500g boneless lamb mini shoulder roasts, rolled and tied
1 tablespoon mint jelly
Sea salt and black pepper, to season
2 sprigs rosemary
2 bunches Dutch baby carrots, trimmed, peeled, halved
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary leaves
2 cloves garlic, minced
Place lamb and half of the mint jelly in a large bowl and toss to coat. Season, then insert rosemary sprigs along the length of each lamb roast. Set aside at room temperature for 15 minutes.
Transfer lamb to the basket of the Philips XXL airfryer with Smart Sensing Technology. Set temperature to 180C and time to 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, put carrots, oil, chopped rosemary, garlic and remaining mint jelly into a large bowl and toss to combine. Add carrots to the aifryer basket, fitting them around the lamb.
Set temperature to 200C and time to 15 minutes cooking until carrots are golden brown and lamb is cooked to medium. Allow lamb to rest for 5 minutes before carving and serving with carrots.
Tip: Reserve the small edible green fronds from the carrots and use them as garnish. If you prefer your lamb cooked well-done, cook the lamb for an extra 10 minutes before adding the carrots.
