Seriously the best lamb we've ever had. Passover and Easter friendly recipe!

We don't eat much meat in our family for various reasons, one being that our girls are dedicated to reduce climate change. However, when we do it is often this melt-in-your-mouth lamb dish -- perfect for Passover and Easter. Oh, and it's easy make provided you have a meat thermometer!

(If you don't eat meat keep an eye out for our next post where we will share a favorite vegetarian recipe!)

Lamb leg picture.JPG

OUR FAVORITE LAMB RECIPE
- thanks to Bill St. John for publishing the original recipe "Gigot D’Agneau" that we modified slightly. Published in the Denver Post March 23, 2018 -

Serves 6-10

Ingredients

  • 1 bone-in leg of lamb, from 6-8 pounds (without bone works equally well)

  • 6-10 cloves of garlic, peeled and mashed with side of chef’s knife

  • 3-5 long branches fresh rosemary, leaves stripped, wood discarded

  • 4 teaspoons honey

  • 5 tablespoons Dijon mustard

  • 4 teaspoons flavorful extra virgin olive oil

  • 1 1/2 - 3 teaspoons kosher salt

  • 1-2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


Directions

We marinated the lamb over night as it gives amazing flavor and it helps with preparations. If you choose this method we recommend taking it out an hour before you want to cook it. The original recipe doesn't call for this. We also updated the recipe by increasing the amount used for the "rosemary-garlic paste". 

Preheat the oven to 400F when you are ready to cook the lamb! 

  • Rinse and dry the lamb. Slice away any egregious blobs of fat, but do not remove all visible fat (while roasting, a modicum of melting fat adds a lot of flavor). Make 6 to 10 slits into the meat of the leg, about an inch in both length and depth.

  • Make a paste of all the remaining ingredients into a rosemary-garlic paste and slather the leg all over, pushing bits of the paste deep into the slits.

  • Place the leg in a shallow roasting or baking pan (if you have a low rack for the pan, use it) and pour 1/2 cup water around the leg. Place in the oven and roast for 10 minutes, then lower the heat to 300 and continue roasting until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thick of the meat (do not touch bone) registers 125 degrees for medium-rare (about 15-20 minutes per pound depending on your oven and the temperature of the lamb when first put into the oven).

  • Place the leg on a cutting board and let it rest; “carryover cooking” will increase the temperature to about 130 degrees or true medium-rare.

(You may prefer the lamb cooked through and meltingly tender. In that case, lower the long roasting time temperature to 250 degrees and cook until the internal temperature registers 140 degrees (a half hour or more per pound), then let the lamb rest another 15 minutes on the cutting board.)

ENJOY!

Katarina SchareComment