Nothing says spring like a roasted leg of lamb. If you haven't made one, I encourage you to give it a try. It is not difficult to prepare and will be much better than what you might recall from your childhood, with a few simple steps.
First, you can now purchase a nice boneless leg of lamb that has already been well trimmed and is ready for roasting. Gone are the days of doing all of the bone, sinew and fat removal that your mother had to deal with. In fact that's one of the reasons your mother's leg of lamb may not have been so good. She had to become a skilled butcher to prepare the meat. Thankfully today even Costco has nice boneless legs of lamb available at reasonable prices. Give it a try!
Second, lamb and especially the leg, is known for its rather strong flavor and smell while roasting. It simply doesn't give the house that lovely smell that you get from a roasting turkey. As such, a simple rub with herbs and garlic helps to address this matter and also nicely flavors the meat.
Ingredients for Herb Rub
8 garlic cloves
3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon coarse salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
Ingredients for Lamb
leg of lamb, trimmed of fat, boned, and optionally butterflied by butcher (4 to 4 3/4 pounds boneless)
1 lemon
Make herb rub:
Finely chop garlic and in a small bowl stir together with remaining herb-rub ingredients.
With tip of a sharp small knife held at a 45-degree angle cut 1/2-inch-deep slits all over lamb, rubbing herb mixture into slits and all over lamb. Marinate lamb at room temperature 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 425F degrees.
Put lamb in a large baking dish or roasting pan prepared with food release. Place the roasting pan in middle of a 425°F oven about 25 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer horizontally inserted into meat registers 125°F for medium-rare. Transfer lamb to a cutting board and let rest for 15-30 minutes, lighted tented with foil.
Cut lamb into slices and serve.
Second, lamb and especially the leg, is known for its rather strong flavor and smell while roasting. It simply doesn't give the house that lovely smell that you get from a roasting turkey. As such, a simple rub with herbs and garlic helps to address this matter and also nicely flavors the meat.
Ingredients for Herb Rub
8 garlic cloves
3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon coarse salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
Ingredients for Lamb
leg of lamb, trimmed of fat, boned, and optionally butterflied by butcher (4 to 4 3/4 pounds boneless)
1 lemon
Make herb rub:
Finely chop garlic and in a small bowl stir together with remaining herb-rub ingredients.
With tip of a sharp small knife held at a 45-degree angle cut 1/2-inch-deep slits all over lamb, rubbing herb mixture into slits and all over lamb. Marinate lamb at room temperature 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 425F degrees.
Put lamb in a large baking dish or roasting pan prepared with food release. Place the roasting pan in middle of a 425°F oven about 25 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer horizontally inserted into meat registers 125°F for medium-rare. Transfer lamb to a cutting board and let rest for 15-30 minutes, lighted tented with foil.
Cut lamb into slices and serve.
Comments
Post a Comment