I love a good roast lamb (proof). Here’s my classic recipe for lamb leg, rubbed with garlic and rosemary, served with gravy, peas, carrots and crispy roast potatoes (duck fat or classic). I hope you love it as much as I do!

The only thing you need to know for perfect roast lamb leg

I have a lot to say about roasting any kind of meat. Especially Australia’s favourite roast – the great lamb leg. But there’s really only one thing you need to know to make perfect roast lamb leg, every single time:

GET A MEAT THERMOMETER!!

It’s the only way you can take the guesswork out of cooking lamb leg so it’s perfect blushing pink and ridiculously juicy inside. Because – and here’s something Aussies don’t like to talk about – lamb leg is actually very lean so if it’s not pink, it’s dry. Full stop, end of story!

My meat thermometer – For most of my adult life, I was using a $5 thermometer I got on Ebay which never failed me. A few years ago I finally decided it was time to invest in a real one so I got a Thermapen which is pretty well regarded as the best (my thoughts here). Even if you can’t invest in a Thermapen – it’s the 21st century, and even cheap tech isn’t so bad. Invest in a $5 meat thermometer. That’s a lot cheaper than a wasted, overcooked lamb leg!

OK, I do have a few more “how to make the perfect roast lamb leg” tips!

1. Garlic rosemary rub – classic lamb flavours.

2. Start on high to get the colour going then lower heat.

3. Roast on a bed of garlic (or onion).

4. Make the gravy using the pan drippings. Roast lamb gravy is better than every other cut of meat – beef, chicken, pork, none of them compare!

What you need for roast lamb leg

Starting with the hero ingredient – the lamb leg! Get the best you can afford – yes, meat is like wine, the more you pay, the better the quality. Quality of life of the animal also comes into play there.

All that red ink you see is perfectly safe to eat and actually, you only see it on better quality lamb. You don’t typically see it on supermarket lamb.

Cut bone – Some (most?) butchers and almost all supermarkets sell lamb leg with the shank (bone) cut. Either fully cut off or partially cut so it folds. This is simply for practical reasons – shelf storage and packing space. For grandness, I like the bone in tact. But it doesn’t matter ,it’s purely a visual decision!

Rub for roast lamb leg

Here’s what you need for the rub: rosemary, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Use fresh rosemary – dried is not the same!

Roast lamb gravy

All you need for gravy is flour for thickening and beef stock/broth for the liquid. You shouldn’t need extra salt for the gravy. I find the salt on the lamb that ends up in the pan drippings plus the salt in the beef stock is enough. But taste and add more if you want!

Why beef rather than lamb stock? Well, there’s a reason lamb stock is not typically sold at grocery stores! It’s just very…lamby. Beef has a cleaner flavour. It doesn’t make the gravy taste beefy at all because there is so much lamb flavour from the drippings.

Why not chicken stock? It works fine but the gravy colour is paler. I like my gravy for roast lamb leg to be a really deep brown colour!

How to make roast lamb leg

Rub with rosemary and garlic, roast in a hot oven to get the colour going then continue at a lower temperature for 1 hour or until the internal temperature is 53°C/127°F (for blushing pink perfection). Rest for 20 minutes before carving. It will still be very warm even after 1 hour – enough time to make duck fat potatoes!

The lamb leg pictured is a 2.75 kg lamb leg which is about the average size you get from good butchers. Supermarket lamb legs tend to be a little larger from slightly older animals which makes the meat a little less tender and a little stronger “lamby” flavour. Albeit, as you’d expect, cheaper than from butchers.

1. Make rub – Mix oil, garlic and rosemary in a bowl.

2. Rub then sprinkle – Slather the rub all over the lamb, then sprinkle the salt and pepper all over. It’s better to do it this way for more even dispersion of salt – if you put it in the oil, it doesn’t spread quite as evenly because it pools in the bottom of the bowl.

   I do this rubbing step in the roasting pan – why dirty a cutting board??

3. Garlic bed – Place cut garlic and rosemary under the lamb.

4. Hot oven 20 minutes – Roast for 20 minutes in a hot 240°C/475°F (220°C fan) oven. This will get the colour going on the lamb. It’s tempting to go longer to get even more colour on it but I find if you go beyond 20 minutes you end up with too much overcooked meat “ring” on the outer edges of the lamb.

5. 1 hour lower oven – Reduce heat to 200°C / 400°F (180°C fan) and roast for a further 1 hour or until the internal temperature of the lamb is 53°C/127°F for blushing pink perfection.

   Check the internal temperature at the 45 minute mark. Never rely on a recipe cook time for roast meat, use your thermometer! So many variables can affect the exact roasting time, from oven strength to pan heat distribution, the shape of the lamb leg and how cold the meat is right in the middle.

   See below for more information on lamb doneness and different size lambs.

6. Rest 20 minutes – Rest the lamb for 20 minutes before carving. During this resting stage, the lamb finishes cooking and the internal temperature will rise to 62°C/144°F which is perfect medium rare for lamb.

   Also during resting, the lamb juices get re-absorbed by the meat fibres so when you cut into the meat, the juices remain in the meat and eventually end up in your mouth. If you do not rest the meat then the meat juices leak out everywhere when you start carving the lamb.

Internal temperature of roast lamb leg

No credible restaurant would ever serve lamb leg at anything over than medium rare! But I do know some people like their lamb done a little more, so here are the internal temperatures for lamb leg at different levels of doneness.

Take the lamb out when it hits the “temperature out of oven”. After resting for 20 minutes it will rise to your target level of doneness.

How to make gravy for roast lamb leg

Gravy for lamb leg is made using the pan drippings after roasting the lamb. “Drippings” simply refers to the fat and meat juices left in the roasting pan after roasting the meat and it’s our express, free path to a killer gravy.

1. Heat drippings & cook flour – Once you take the lamb out of the roasting pan, put it straight on the stove to heat the fat. Add flour and stir it for 1 minute to cook it off – it will kind of be like a paste.

2. Pour in the beef stock, stirring as you go to help dissolve the flour.

3. Smush the garlic with a potato masher or even a smooth to help release the beautiful caramelised garlic flesh into the gravy.

4. Strain – Then just simmer for a few minutes until the gravy thickens to your taste then strain into a bowl, pressing the gravy liquid out of the garlic heads. Then pour into a jug to serve!

And that, my friends, is everything you need to know to be the king (or queen) of roast lamb leg from this day forth. The precision by which you roast your lamb to blushing pink perfection will be admired. Your gravy will be whispered about in your circles – the flavour!!! It’s incredible!

Just smile sedately, sit back and bask in the praise. There is no need to reveal your recipe source. 😎

The lamb leg in this post is pictured with duck fat potatoes (the best crispy potatoes in the world!) with peas and steamed carrots tossed with a little butter and parsley. If you don’t have duck fat, make my classic crunchy roast potatoes instead. They are still way crunchier than your usual way of making them.

Go forth and enjoy your new lamb-alicious world! If you’ve got your own lamb leg secrets, sharing in the comments below – readers love hearing what you have to say. – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

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Roast Lamb Leg with Gravy

Recipe video above. I love a roast lamb leg! My top tip is to use a meat thermometer. There's no way to guarantee perfect blushing pink roast lamb without one, even if it's a cheap one!

Rubbed with rosemary garlic and accompanied with a killer gravy for lamb. Serve with peas, buttered steamed carrots and crunchy roast potatoes (either classic or ultra crunchy duck fat potatoes).

Course Dinner

Cuisine Aussie, British, New Zealand

Keyword Roast Lamb Leg

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes

De-chilling and resting time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 6 -8

Calories 450cal

Author Nagi | RecipeTin Eats

Ingredients

• 2.75 – 3 kg / 5.5 – 6 lb lamb leg , bone-in (Note 1)
• 1 1/2 tsp cooking salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Rub

• 1 1/2 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves , finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves , finely minced
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Base

• 2 whole heads of garlic , halved horizontally (Note 2)
• Few sprigs rosemary (optional)

Gravy

• 4 tbsp flour , plain/all purpose
• 2 1/2 cups beef broth / stock , low sodium (Note 3)

Cups – Metric

Instructions

• Take lamb out of fridge at least 1 hour before roasting. (Note 4)
• Preheat oven to 240°C/475°F (220°C fan) with oven shelf in the middle.
• Rub – Mix rosemary, garlic and olive oil.
• Prepare lamb – Place lamb leg in a roasting pan. Coat with the rub using your hands, the sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Place garlic and rosemary sprigs underneath the lamb, garlic cut face up.
• Roast lamb leg for 20 minutes. Turn the oven down to 200°C/400°F (180°C fan) and roast for a further 1 hour or until the internal temperature reaches 53°C/127°F for medium rare (Note 5 other doneness). Check first at 45 minutes – everyone's oven is different!
• Rest – Remove lamb from oven. Transfer lamb to plate, loosely cover with foil and rest for 20 minutes to 1 hour (it will still be warm enough for serving!). The internal temperature will rise to 62°C/144°F (medium rare). Make gravy while lamb is resting – below.
• Serve lamb with gravy, duck fat or classic crunchy roast potatoes, peas and steamed carrots tossed with butter and parsley.

Gravy for roast lamb leg

• Drippings in pan – Discard rosemary sprigs. You should have around 4 – 5 tbsp of fat (drippings). If less, add butter. If much more, discard a bit.
• Add flour – Place roasting pan on stove over medium heat. When the fat starts to bubble, then add flour. Mix flour in and cook for 1 minute.
• Stock – Pour in half the beef stock and mix to dissolve sludge in, then add remaining beef stock and mix.
• Garlic squidging – Use a potato masher (if you're really keen like me) to mush the garlic to squeeze out the flavour (also helps flour caught in garlic to dissolve).
• Taste – Check salt and pepper (I don't add more).
• Thicken – Simmer for a couple of minutes, stirring, until it starts to thicken. Take it off the stove BEFORE the gravy is the thickness you want because it will keep thickening.
• Strain into a bowl, mushing garlic to squeeze all the liquid out. Then pour into gravy jug and serve with lamb!

Notes

1. Lamb leg – Recipe is based on a whole lamb leg. See roasting time table above for different lamb sizes. Sometimes the bone sticking out is removed, sometimes it is partially cut so it folds inwards. It doesn’t matter either way, but just ensure the bone inside the meat is not removed. (If it is, you have a butterflied lamb leg – use this recipe instead).

Boneless lamb – I love making Greek butterflied lamb leg. If yours is rolled and tied, you could make this recipe but the meat is not quite as juicy because it’s been cut to remove the bone so there’s more escape roots for meat juices! If you can, unroll the lamb to do the rub then roll it back up and tie again (excellent flavour infusion!). Also, cook time likely a bit shorter. I’d do the 20 minute high temp blast, lower oven then check at 40 minute mark.

 2. Garlic base – Elevates the lamb slightly so it cooks more evenly and allows the fat to drip over the garlic so the flavour infuses into the drippings that then forms the base of the gravy. Place garlic cut side up so the flavour infuses into the flesh of the lamb.

It is not garlicky at all because when garlic roasts, it becomes sweet and caramelised. It is my big secret for making a killer gravy for roast lamb! You can use 1 onion, quarters (skin on) instead of or in addition to garlic.

3. Gravy for lamb is best made with beef stock/broth because it has a deeper flavour and makes the gravy a beautiful dark brown colour. Store bought is fine, though homemade makes it ultra restaurant-worthy! If you cannot consume beef for religious or health reasons, then chicken broth can be substituted.

4. De-chilling lamb will make it cook more evenly. Cold lamb leg = overcooked on the outside by the time the inside is cooked.

5. Internal temperature of cooked lamb leg:

I highly recommend getting a meat thermometer for accuracy – only guaranteed way to get juicy lamb every time!

6. Holding – The lamb leg will stay warm for up to 1 hour, enough time to make duck fat or classic crunchy roast potatoes! The inside of the lamb is still warm even after 3 hours. 

7. Servings: A 2.5 kg/5 lb lamb serves 6 very generously and 8 comfortably. After taking into account the bone (500g/1lb) and meat juices lost during roasting, you should end up with around 1.7kg meat after cooking which is around 280g for 6 people (generous!) or 200g for 8 people. If you slice lamb thinly it will go further!

8. Nutrition per serving, assuming 8 servings and that all the gravy is consumed.

Nutrition

Serving: 275g | Calories: 450cal | Carbohydrates: 3.3g | Protein: 54.6g | Fat: 22.7g | Saturated Fat: 6.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 16.6g | Cholesterol: 169mg | Sodium: 381mg

Originally published October 2016. I have been very neglectful not updating one of my favourite recipes with sparkling new photos and a recipe video!

I told you – I LOVE roast lamb! See?

Greek Slow Roasted Leg of Lamb

Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder

Slow Cooker Roast Lamb Leg

Greek Butterflied Lamb Leg

Slow Cooked Lamb Shawarma

Ultimate Roast Lamb: 12-hour lamb shoulder

Roast Lamb

Life of Dozer

Original photo from when I first published this recipe in 2016 still holds true, so no need to update:

DOZER. Don’t breathe your stinky dog breath over my friends while they eat!

The post Roast Lamb Leg with Gravy appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.

A lamb leg is classic. A 3-hour shoulder is excellent. But for the most succulent roast lamb of your life, slow-roast it for 12 hours in the oven overnight. Cooked at a very low temperature with plenty of braising liquid, you can set-and-forget without a worry. This entirely hands-off, easy cooking method yields superior results with the bonus that it reheats 100% perfectly and you can cook up to 4 shoulders at once.

This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!

What’s so amazing about a 12 hour lamb, anyway?

There are many devoted fans of this super 3-Hour Slow Roasted Lamb Shoulder, stuffed with garlic and rosemary. And there will always be a place in my life for a 3-hour lamb, something speedy you can pop in the oven on a lazy Sunday afternoon for supper that night.

So why should you give the 12-hour lamb a go? Because it’s even better. 🤷🏻‍♀️ See, it’s a bit like flying. Think of 3-hour lamb like business class. It’s pretty awesome and nobody on the receiving end is going to complain. But 12-hour lamb is the next rung, the top shelf – it’s first class. And once you’ve flown first class, it’s hard to look at anything else the same way again!

Here’s what makes 12-hour lamb that much more special:

• Lower temp = more succulent meat – Tough cuts like lamb shoulder need slow-cooking to tenderise them. The lower the roasting temperature, the less total moisture evaporation and thus juicier meat. 3-hour lamb is cooked at 180°C/350°F, while the 12 hour lamb is cooked at only 100°C/212°F.

• Better flavour – Not only is the flesh juicier but the slow braising-roasting method here means you get the best of both worlds: flavour infused into the flesh from the surface rub and lamb juices which mingles with the braising liquid, and surface browning you can only get with roasting.

• Hands-off overnight cooking – Covered, with plenty of braising liquid to keep it moist, our first class lamb cooks overnight on autopilot. No basting, no removing covering to brown, no tray rotations – it completely takes care of itself. Wake up the next day and be greeted with roasted meat perfection!

• Easy to scale up – Make 2 at the same time in one pan, or 4 across 2 pans!

• Reheats 100% perfectly – Unlike many other roasts, this 12-hour slow-roasted lamb shoulder reheats 100% perfectly, which makes it an excellent make-ahead centrepiece for large gatherings.

• It creates its own jus (fancy word but it’s dead easy) – It’s just the braising liquid, simmered to concentrate and thickened slightly with cornflour/cornstarch. After 12-hours with the lamb, this is flavour-packed liquid gold!

• A ludicrous effort-to-reward ratio – I am a VERY big fan of recipes where you reap high rewards for a small outlay of effort!

What you need to make 12-hour slow-roasted lamb shoulder

I’ve gone for classic flavours here that lamb loves – rosemary and garlic. Simple is all we need when we’re doing slow-roasting! (Note: Dried oregano missing from photo, oops!)

• Lamb shoulder – The more economical yet superior brother to lamb leg (in my humble opinion). It’s richer, it’s got more flavour, it’s juicer, and it’s far more forgiving to cook than lamb leg. Leg either needs to be roasted to blushing pink perfection or slow-roasted to fall-apart tenderness (but because it’s leaner there’s less margin for error with the cook time).

  Shoulders are widely available these days in Australia, even at large grocery stores (Coles, Woolies etc). They are typically around 1.3 – 1.6kg (young lambs with more tender flesh) but sometimes you will find them as large as 2kg+ which are still terrific, but the flesh is a wee bit less tender (because they are older animals).

• Garlic, oregano (missing from photo, oops!) and rosemary – Timeless companions to lamb!

• Onion – To keep the lamb slightly elevated off the base (instead of using a rack) and also to flavour the sauce (lamb jus) which we make using the braising liquid.

• Olive oil – For rubbing the lamb so the salt, pepper, garlic and rosemary stick.

• Water – Plenty here, and there’s a few reasons for this. Firstly, for moisture retention in the flesh during the slow-roasting period. Secondly, it promotes more even cooking of the flesh because partially braising in a liquid distributes heat more effectively than the convective heat of oven air (ie. just dry roasting). Thirdly, to prevent the pan drying out which would result in the pan base residues burning. And lastly, the water becomes heavily flavoured with lamb juices, which we then reduce to make the sauce. There’s absolutely no need to use stock!

How to make 12-hour lamb shoulder

Hint: There’s a lot of sleeping on the job involved. We need more recipes like this!! 😂

1. Marinade / rub – Mix the rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper with the olive oil.

2. Slather then optional marinade – Slather the rub all over the lamb shoulder, being sure to get right into all those cracks and crevices! I just do this straight in the roasting pan – why bother dirtying a cutting board??

   Then if time permits, leave the lamb to marinate for 2 hours on the counter in the roasting pan, or up to 24 hours in the fridge.

   Marinating is an optional step. Why? Because the long and slow cook time means the lamb is essentially marinating as it cooks, in my opinion. But I’m sure people with a more refined palate than me can probably taste the difference between marinating, and not. I can’t. So I usually skip the marinating time.
   

3. Water – Pop the onion wedges under the lamb (I promise they are hidden under the lamb shown above!) then pour the water into the pan.

4. Brown 45 minutes – Pop the lamb in the oven for 45 minutes, uncovered. This is to give the browning a head start. It will brown further when covered in foil, but this just ensures our finished produce is really nicely browned. It’s easier and better to do this first than at the end when it’s already cooked.

5. 12 hours in oven – Cover lamb with baking paper then two layers of foil, sealed tightly (or better yet, a heavy roasting pan lid) to prevent evaporating moisture leakage. We want all of it to stay locked in! Then place in the oven for 12 hours at 100°C/212°F. Now go to bed and sleep well, relaxed by the knowledge that your lamb will turn out beautifully tomorrow.

6. Fall-apart meat and LOTS of liquid! When the lamb emerges from the oven in the morning, the flesh should pry apart with very little effort (check the side, not top, to preserve presentation). The pan will have even MORE liquid than it started with because of all the lamb juices. See? No risk of a dry pan burning!

For serving / holding / reheating advice and guidelines on how I would time things to make it effortless for serving at gatherings, see the section just before the recipe video. For now, let me show you how to make the sauce – Lamb Jus!

Lamb Jus: Fancy-sounding but super-easy gravy

The sauce for this slow-roast lamb is an intensely-flavoured wonder, packed with the tasty and meaty goodness you can only get from 12 hours of slow cooking! Technically this is a kind of jus as opposed to a gravy, because it’s made from a reduction of meat juices rather than pan scrapings.

The nice thing about it is that it’s much less fussy to make than gravy. No wrangling a roasting pan on the stove to make a roux with the fat in the pan here. Instead, we simply simmer the pan juices to concentrate, then thicken slightly with cornflour / cornstarch so it coats the meat nicely when doused.

How to make Lamb Jus

1. Reduce pan juices – Remove the lamb to a platter, another roasting pan or a large container. Then strain all the pan juices into a saucepan. Simmer rapidly to reduce to 1 cup.

2. Thicken with cornflour – Make a cornflour slurry by mixing 1 teaspoon of cornflour with 1/4 cup of water. Pour that straight into the saucepan while stirring. At first it will make the liquid murky, but as it comes up to the boil it will become shiny and clear, and will thicken slightly.

   We do not want the jus to be too thick – not like our usual gravy that we serve with roasts. A jus is supposed to be thinner. This is because it looks and pours more elegantly than a more viscous gravy. Also because it typically has more intense savoury flavour than gravy, you use less. So we want the sauce to run more readily so it coats the meat more thinly than gravy (in, say, the 3-hour lamb shoulder).

   Once the jus is ready, pour into a jug and serve alongside the lamb. It can be made days in advance, stored in a container and reheated simply in the microwave or on the stove.

A go-to main for gatherings

As I mentioned right at the beginning, some of the reasons this has become my go-to centrepiece for a a group menu is because:

• It’s easy to scale up (up to 4 shoulders in one oven)

• It’s pretty much entirely hands-off

• It can be made ahead the night before, and reheats 100% perfectly

So I thought it might be helpful to also share with you my typical roast-cooking game plans including timings, which I follow depending on when and how I plan to serve the roast.

Here’s a couple of gatherings from this year that starred this 12 hour slow roasted lamb! Firstly, my belated New Years’ Eve 2021 party that took place in March:

And more recently on a trip to Tasmania when I took over the kitchen of Meadowbank Vineyard to put on a big lunch for Tassie friends! Four lamb shoulders were slow-cooked overnight in one oven in the Air BNB I was staying at, then were transported to the vineyard in the morning for the lunch. More on this trip in the Postcards from Tasmania section in this newsletter from when I took the trip.

What to serve with 12 hour roast lamb

A grand main deserves worthy sides!!

It’s pictured above with Greek Lemon Potatoes, which are a perfect match for this Mediterranean-style lamb. Also peeking out of the bottom corner is a big, juicy Greek Salad which is a lovely fresh side to cut through the richness of the lamb.

A big pan of Herb & Garlic Roasted Vegetables would also be ideal and can be made after the lamb comes out of the oven since the lamb will stay warm for hours upon hours.

For a luxe option, add a side of Duck Fat Potatoes, the crunchiest roast potatoes you will ever have in your life. And for greens, a big bowl of the Garlic Sautéed Green Beans from Wednesday would be ideal!

So! What do you think? Have I convinced you to give this a go? I don’t crown this the ULTIMATE Roast Lamb lightly! I truly do believe this to be the best way to roast a lamb, for the most superior results. And I’ve shared a fair few of roast lamb recipes in my time, just look below!

More of my Roast lamb recipes

Roast Lamb Leg with Gravy

Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder

Greek Butterflied Lamb Leg

Greek Slow Roasted Leg of Lamb

Slow Cooker Roast Lamb Leg

Slow Cooked Lamb Shawarma

– Nagi x

Watch how to make it

This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!

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Ultimate slow-roasted lamb: 12-hour Lamb Shoulder

Recipe video above. A 3-hour lamb shoulder is great. A 12-hour lamb shoulder is better! The meat is even more succulent because a lower cooking temperature means less moisture loss, and better flavour infusion from the rub.

The sauce is a Lamb Jus made using the braising juices so it has phenomenal flavour. Don't be intimidated, it's simple and no more difficult to make than gravy!

This is an excellent make-ahead recipe for gatherings. Why? Because you can make up to 4 shoulders in one standard oven. And the room for error is also almost nil; it's almost entirely hands-off cooking that magically takes care of itself overnight. Most importantly, the meat is so juicy it reheats 100% perfectly. I cook it overnight and reheat to serve that evening.

About scaling up: 2 shoulders can be cooked in one large pan with no change to cook time. 4 shoulders (2 lambs in 2 pans, on 2 shelves) takes about 14 to 15 hours.

Course Mains, Roasts

Cuisine Australian, Western

Keyword lamb roast, lamb shoulder, slow roast lamb

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 13 hours hours

Marinating, optional 2 hours hours

Servings 5

Calories 377cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

• 1.6 – 2.2kg / 3.2 – 4.4lb lamb shoulder , bone-in (Note 1)
• 2 cups water (Note 2)
• 1 brown onion (unpeeled), cut into 6 wedges (Note 3)

Marinade

• 2 1/2 tsp fresh rosemary , chopped (finely)
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 2 garlic cloves (big!) , finely chopped
• 1 tsp salt , kosher or cooking salt (or 3/4 tsp table salt)
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Jus, for serving

• 1 tsp cornflour / cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 tsp salt

Cups – Metric

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 230°C / 450°F (210°C fan).
• Marinade/rub: Mix the Marinade ingredients in a small bowl. Rub all over the lamb surface, getting it right into all the cracks and crevices!
• Marinate 2 – 24 hrs: If time permits, marinate for 2 hours on the counter in a roasting pan, or up to 24 hours in the fridge. I skip this step more often than not, however. (Note 4)
• Prepare roasting pan: Scatter onion in the base of the roasting pan. Place lamb shoulder on top . Pour water into pan.
• Roast uncovered for 45 minutes.
• Slow-roast 12 hours: Turn oven down to 100°C/210°F (both fan and standard, Note 5). Cover lamb with baking paper, then a double layer of foil and seal very tightly to avoid water evaporation. Roast for 12 hours (I always do overnight!).
• Check meat – Test side of lamb with two forks. The meat should be fall-apart tender. If not, cover and return to oven.
• Remove lamb: There will (should!) be a lot of liquid pooled under the lamb in the roasting pan. Remove lamb to a large dish. Cover loosely with foil to keep warm. It will stay warm for 2 to 3 hours. See Note for reheating / making ahead.

Lamb Jus:

• Reduce liquid: Strain all the liquid in the roasting pan into a saucepan (Note 2). Bring to a boil then simmer rapidly on medium-high until it reduces down to 1 cup (250ml).
• Thicken: Mix cornflour with water. Pour into jus in a thin stream while stirring continuously. Continue to cook for a minute or two over medium heat, stirring every now and then, until it thickens to a syrup consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve:

• Serve Slow Roasted Lamb with Jus. Use tongs for tearing meat off – no knife for carving needed! Pictured in post with Greek Lemon Roasted Potatoes, a perfect match for this Greek-ish flavoured lamb. Roasted Vegetables would also be ideal.

Notes

Serving portions – Allow 300g/10oz of lamb per person for normal people, or 500g/1lb for big eaters. This measure is the bone-in, raw lamb. Meat shrinks considerably once cooked, you probably lose around 30% in weight so ends up being much less as cooked meat.

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1. Lamb shoulder – A tough cut of meat that needs to be cooked far beyond well done until the meat becomes fall-apart tender. You do not need a knife to carve this meat, pull it off with tongs!

Shoulder comes in all sorts of sizes depending on the size/age of lamb! The cook time doesn’t really differ because the meat itself needs a minimum amount of time to break down and become tender, and also the low temperature means it’s very forgiving, ie. it’s hard to overcook this meat to the point it dries out.

If your shoulder is really small though, say 1.2kg / 2.4lb, then you can probably cut down the cook time by 2 hours, but it should still be succulent even if you stick with the full 12 hours.

Lamb leg – This recipe is not suitable for leg, please use this Slow Roasted Lamb Leg recipe instead.

2. Water is all we need for the braising liquid because it gets so much flavour from the lamb juices, no need to use stock.

Liquid in pan after slow roasting – If the foil was tightly sealed (and your lamb is juicy!), you will/should end up with 3 – 4 cups liquid at the end. If you have less than 1 cup, add water to top up before simmer on stove to make the Jus.

3. Onion – Elevates the lamb slightly off base for more even cooking, plus adds flavour to the liquid that forms the Jus (sauce). Can keep skin on because it holds together better and we strain it out anyway.

4. Marinating – The long and slow cook time means the lamb is essentially marinating as it cooks, in my opinion. But I’m sure people with a more refined palate than me can probably taste the difference between marinating, and not. (I can’t).

5. Oven temp – I find that you need to use the same temperature for standard vs fan oven for low temperature, slow cooking. It’s something I’ve discovered over the years across various recipes, including things slow cooked at slightly higher temperatures like Massaman Lamb Shanks. I think it’s because the lower the oven temperature, the smaller the difference in actual oven heat between fan vs standard ovens.

6. Workflow / timing / reheating: Here’s what I do –

• Serving for lunch – Slow roast overnight so it comes out of there oven around 9 am (to give a bit of headroom for extra oven time if needed, in case meat is not fall-apart-tender). Lamb will stay warm covered in foil for 3 hours easily, in a new pan or container (don’t leave in liquid, as it will continue cooking). If needed, reheat per below.
• Dinner – Slow roast overnight, allow lamb to cool to room temperature, then store in fridge. Take out 3 hours prior to serving (to de-chill for more even, faster reheating). Reheat covered in oven at 150°C/300°F for 1 hour (for 1 lamb shoulder; 4 will take longer). Emergency reheating option: Microwave it. Yes, really!
• Jus – Make, cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until required. Reheat in microwave or saucepan on stove.

Storage – Cooked lamb will keep in the fridge for 4 to 5 days, or freezer for 3 months. It is at its best within 24 hours of cooking I find, but it’s still 97% excellent on days 2 to 5.

Nutrition

Calories: 377cal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 41g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 129mg | Sodium: 727mg | Potassium: 633mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 20IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 53mg | Iron: 4mg

Life of Dozer

Dozer on the job: taste-testing a prospective recipe for the cookbook!

He approved. (He is very consistent with his rating, I find.)

The post Ultimate Roast Lamb: 12-hour lamb shoulder appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.

This is a terrific, classic Rack of Lamb recipe that makes the most of this premium cut of meat. An assertive rosemary garlic marinade injects flavour into the meat before roasting in the oven, then finishing by basting with garlic butter. To serve, a dazzling green Salsa Verde sauce is the perfect fresh and tangy accompaniment to cut through the richness of the lamb!

Rack of Lamb recipe

Welcome to the first recipe for Easter Week 2021! We’re kicking off with a traditional choice of meat for Easter: lamb. Not just any old lamb, though. Today we’re going for the Rolls Royce of cuts, rack of lamb!

Lamb rack is a premium cut of meat and a darling of fine dining restaurants, for good reason. The meat in a rack of lamb is amongst the most tender and juicy on the animal, while still retaining plenty of flavour.

Properly frenched (ie. trimmed for presentation), a whole rack of lamb makes for a seriously impressive centrepiece and screams luxury. If you’re wanting to turn a meal into an occasion, it’s hard to go past serving a rack of lamb to your lucky guests!

Rosemary Garlic Marinade for Rack of Lamb

I believe the better the meat, the less you should do to it, to allow the meat itself to really shine. And thus today we’re going with nothing more than a very simple and classic rosemary garlic marinade, and a little butter baste to finish.

To serve, what could be more perfect to play against the richness of lamb than a fresh and zingy Salsa Verde? When you have meat this good, simple really is best!

What you need to cook Rack of Lamb

Here’s what you need for this recipe:

For the Lamb Rack marinade:

• Rosemary – Fresh rosemary is essential, for maximum effect! The classic herb to pair with lamb;

• Garlic – Another classic flavouring for our lamb;

• Extra virgin olive oil – The flavour carrier! Also, to keep the meat surface moist; and

• Salt and pepper – Naturally! Also, as lamb racks are not very thick, the seasoning penetrates the lamb very well.

The Lamb Rack

The lamb rack pictured above has been frenched (“a frenched rack of lamb”). This means the lamb rack has been trimmed of excess fat and the bones cleaned. Preparing the lamb rack this way is for presentation purposes so it looks neater, as well as ensuring too much fat doesn’t land on the diner’s plate. If you’re going to splurge on a premium cut of meat, this is no time to do things by halves!

To french, the fat cap is firstly trimmed from the meat. Then the meat on and between the bones are scraped clean down to where the loin meat starts (the main strip of meat).

Below is a comparison of a frenched rack of lamb (left) vs a non-frenched rack of lamb (right), and the difference is clear. Some people prefer to have the fat cap, because fat is where most of the flavour of meat is. (Fun fact: Sauté a lean beef steak in lamb fat and you’d swear you’re eating a lamb chop!)

However the fat layer shrinks and buckles as it cooks, so it doesn’t look as neat. A frenched rack looks neat and tidy, and more worthy of both price tag and occasion!

How to cook a Rack of Lamb

This classic recipe for a rack of lamb begins with marinating the whole rack overnight. The lamb is then seared on the stove to get some colour before finishing in the oven to cook to your desired level of doneness. (*“Medium-rare, medium-rare!”, she whispers forcefully!*😉) Finally, we give the cooked rack a quick basting in butter for that professional, restaurant-like finish!

1. Make marinade – Mix the lamb marinade in a ziplock bag. I use a ziplock bag because it’s the most effective way to make a small amount of marinade stay thoroughly coated on the lamb. If you prefer to use a container, use a snug one, and increase the marinade by 50%. Turn the lamb once or twice during the marinating time;

2. Marinate the lamb for a minimum of 24 hours, though for extra flavour you can go up to 48 hours;

3. Foil-wrap bones – This is an optional step for presentation purposes. The foil stops the bones from going brown so they look nicer. A little cheffy tip!

   Sometimes, butchers will sell the lamb with the bones already wrapped in foil (this is often the case with Prime Rib here in Australia);

4. Sear the lamb rack in an oven-proof skillet. We must sear the lamb before roasting to get some colour on the meat, because the roasting time is too short for the surface to get browned in the oven. And as we all know, colour = flavour!

   Sear all around the meat as well as the ends. Do one rack at a time in the pan – this should take around 3 minutes each;

5. Roast in oven – Arrange both racks now in the skillet and transfer to the oven. Roast in a 180°C/350°F (fan) oven until you reach your desired level of doneness. It should take 15 minutes for 2 x 800g / 1.3lb lamb racks to reach 57°C/135°F, the target internal temperature for medium-rare. The photos in this post depict the lamb at medium-rare, and this is the point at which the lamb is fully cooked to pink perfection and for optimum juiciness. No self-respecting restaurant would suggest lamb rack be cooked beyond this! (But it’s your lamb, so if you prefer it well done, I say go for it 🙂)

6. Herb and garlic butter baste – You thought we were done? Oh no! For a piece of meat this special, let’s go all the way and finish with butter! As soon as you pull the lamb from the oven, toss some butter, smashed garlic and a sprig of rosemary into the pan. The residual heat from the skillet will melt the butter quickly. Squish the garlic and rosemary into the butter to get the flavours infused;

7. Baste, baste, baste! Once the butter has melted, baste away! This truly is the high point when cooking this recipe. The smell of freshly roasted lamb in sizzling garlicky-rosemary-butter will make you delirious. If your knees don’t buckle in the slightest, you must be made of stone!; and

8. Rest the meat – Finally, let the lamb rest for a good 5 minutes before serving. Why is resting essential? When meat is cooked the juices are squeezed from the muscle fibres. Slice the meat fresh out the oven and these juices will pour out of the meat and wind up on the cutting board instead of in your mouth! 😫 Resting the meat allows the juices to redistribute throughout the meat, making for juicier lamb.

Serving

1. Remove foil – Remove the foil from the bones (if you covered them), take a step back and marvel at how lovely and white the bones are. So very fine-dining-posh!

2. Carve – Slice the lamb into cutlets. Sometimes I do single cutlets with one bone apiece, as pictured. Other times I will cut them so each piece has two bones, then put 2 pieces (ie. 4 cutlets) on each plate, which has a more generous look. Or I cut 3 or 4 bones into one mini roast. It just depends how I’m feeling on the day!

3. Sauce for Rack of Lamb – The sauce I’ve chosen for today’s lamb rack is Salsa Verde. Made with fresh herbs (parsley, mint, basil), this brilliant green sauce goes exceptionally well with lamb. The fresh, sharp and bold tastes perfectly complement the rich flavours of the lamb. It also looks fabulous with its vibrant colour and is dead easy to make (a 10 second stick blender blitz). This sauce is much less effort than other classic sauces such as say, a jus where you must make stock, reduce it, mount with butter to thicken etc.

4. Serve! Place the lamb cutlets on a plate, spoon over the Salsa Verde then serve!

How to serve Rack of Lamb

Rack of lamb is already an elegant-looking dish with its clean bones and blushing pink flesh, so it plates up beautifully on individual plates like pictured above.

But it can also be served share-style on a big platter heaped with sides, as pictured below, with some or all of the lamb cut and ready for people to help themselves.

Can you picture your loved ones’ reactions when you place this platter on the table?? I can! (Spoiler: It involves applause and ear-to-ear smiles all around.)

What to serve with a Rack of Lamb

Side salad

The herby Salsa Verde, and rosemary and garlic flavours of this lamb are broad-stroked enough that you really can pair this with virtually anything! In general, with fatty meats like lamb you’ll want a fresh salad with a nicely piquant dressing.

Throughout this post the lamb is pictured with a Spring Salad which I felt was on-theme, given that lamb is at its prime in spring and all (let’s ignore that it’s currently Autumn here in Australia! 😂). The crispy greens, peas, sharp goats cheese and bright lemon dressing nicely play against the richness of the lamb meat.

See here for all my Side Salad options. Some ideas: A fruity Peach Salad with Poppyseed Dressing; a traditional French Bistro Salad; autumnal Apple Salad or Fennel Salad; crunchy fresh cabbage in Our Best NO MAYO Coleslaw; Middle Eastern-inflected Pomegranate Salad or Lentil and Roasted Eggplant Salad.

Potato side dish

And on the side in the photos are Mini Potato Gratins, which are the individual stacked version of Potato Dauphinois. This format works well for a sharing style side dish.

See here for all my other potato side dish options. Some ideas: classic Herb Buttered Baby Potatoes, Duck Fat Potatoes (you’ll need two ovens to do this with lamb rack though), Sweet Potato Casserole or classic creamy Mashed Potato.

If you want to really reach for the stars however, look no further than Paris Mash – the richest, creamiest, most decadent and luxurious mashed potato in the world. Because, well, why not? Lamb rack deserves it! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

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Rack of Lamb with Rosemary Garlic Marinade (Oven Roasted)

Recipe video above. Here is a wonderful, classic way to cook a rack of lamb that makes the most of this premium cut of meat! Infused with the flavours of rosemary and garlic from a marinade, then roasted to perfection, it's served with Salsa Verde for a deliciously fresh accompaniment that plays beautifully against the rich lamb.

Allow 3 to 4 cutlets per person.

Course Mains

Cuisine Western

Keyword lamb rack recipe, marinade for rack of lamb, Rack of lamb, sauce for lamb rack

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Marinating 1 day day

Servings 4

Calories 511cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

• 2 x 800g / 1.3lb racks of lamb , frenched (Note 1)

Marinade:

• 4 garlic cloves , minced
• 1 tbsp fresh rosemary , finely chopped
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt , cooking/kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Cooking:

• 2 tbsp olive oil – for searing (1 tbsp each rack)

Basting finish:

• 30g / 2 tbsp butter , cut into 1cm / ½" cubes
• 2 garlic cloves , smashed (use side of knife)
• 1 sprig rosemary

Serving:

• 1 quantity Salsa Verde (see separate recipe)

Instructions

• Marinate lamb: Mix marinade ingredients in a ziplock bag (Note 2). Place lamb in bag, massage to coat, then seal and marinate for at least 24 hours and up to 48 hours.
• Remove lamb from fridge 1 hour prior to cooking, to ensure even cooking.
• Wrap bones in foil (optional): Wrap each bone with a small piece of foil. This keeps the bones white and looks prettier.
• Preheat oven: Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F (180°C fan).
• Sear: Heat 1 tbsp oil in a cast iron skillet (or other oven-proof, heavy-based skillet) over high heat. Sear one lamb rack on all sides until golden brown, including the ends. Remove and repeat with other lamb rack.
• Roast: Place both racks in the skillet and roast for 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature is 57°C/135°F (for medium-rare). Remove pan from oven.
• Baste: Add butter, smashed garlic and rosemary to pan. The residual heat of the pan will melt the butter. Spoon the butter over the lamb continuously for 30 seconds.
• Rest: Remove lamb from skillet and place on a rack set over a tray. Pour butter remaining in the skillet over lamb. Cover loosely with foil and rest for 5 minutes.
• Carve and serve! Cut lamb into individual cutlets or several cutlets per slice. Serve with Salsa Verde!
• Sides: Pictured in post with a Spring Salad and individual Mini Potato Gratin Stacks.

Notes

1. Rack of lamb –  Required weight is the weight of a frenched rack of lamb (ie fat trimmed, bones cleaned) which is up to 25-30% LESS than a rack of lamb that is NOT frenched. So take this into consideration when purchasing.

This recipe works fine for lamb racks that aren’t frenched, they just do not present as neatly. Also, they will take longer to cook.

2. Marinating – If you prefer not use a ziplock bag, use a non-reactive container that fits the lamb snugly. Increase marinade by 50%, and turn the lamb twice during the marinading time.

3. Salsa Verde recipe – Makes around 1 cup, more than enough for four servings of lamb. Recipe here.

4. Storage and reheating – It’s possible to reheat the lamb in the microwave, however expect that they will no longer be medium-rare once heated. Alternatively, bring to room temperature and slice leftover lamb for use in salads, sandwiches etc along with the salsa verde.

Nutrition

Calories: 511cal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 43g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 153mg | Sodium: 889mg | Potassium: 709mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 495IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 4mg

Life of Dozer

Just another leisurely Sunday afternoon for Mr Dozer.

The post Rosemary Garlic Marinated Rack of Lamb (Roasted) appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.

When you marinate a butterflied lamb leg in a bold garlic/lemon/oregano Greek marinade, very good things will happen … Specifically, amazingly tender, seriously flavour-infused lamb! Excellent to grill on the BBQ, or roast in the oven.

A sensational share platter meal option for gatherings – the Greek way! After more ideas? Browse all my roast lamb recipes!

Greek Butterflied Lamb Leg

Butterflied lamb leg is simply a leg of lamb with the bone removed so the meat lies flat and is relatively uniform in thickness. This means the lamb cooks faster than a traditional whole roast leg, as well as opening the leg up to all sorts of flavour possibilities.

Today, we’re going Greek! Lots of garlic, lots of lemon, lots of oregano – flavours that are a natural pairing with lamb given it’s one of Greece’s favourite meats!

What you need

Just garlic, oregano, lemons, the butterflied lamb leg (more on this below), and pretty please can we also pretend I didn’t forget to put olive oil in the photo? Oil is necessary not only to add some richness and flavour, but also to dilute the lemon so the acid in the lemon doesn’t “cook” the lamb meat, like you see it done for Ceviche.

Butterflied Lamb Leg

Butterflied lamb leg is a lamb leg with the bone removed so it can be “butterflied” to lie flat. This gives you a broader range of cooking method options compared to a bone in lamb leg which is easiest roasted whole due to its shape. It also affords us the opportunity to really get some great flavours in all the way through the flesh.

When prepared well and cooked to rare or medium rare, it’s an incredibly succulent, tender lamb cut that’s ideal served for gatherings. A 1.7kg/3.4lb butterflied lamb leg (the meat cut from an average size 2.2kg / 4.4 lb bone-in lamb leg) will easily serve 8 people, if not more.

The outer surface, pictured above, will typically come with a layer of fat on it. Trim off as much or as little as you want – though I do caution against excessive fat removal because the fat keeps the meat nice and juicy, not to mention fat = flavour!

And here’s what the flesh side looks like. This is the side that the bone was cut out of:

How long to marinate butterflied lamb leg

If time permits, I recommend marinating for 24 hours. This yields more tender meat, and better flavour infusion.

However, the beauty of using butterflied lamb leg with this rather intense lemony-garlicky marinade is that even a short 3 hour marination makes a remarkable difference. All those nooks, crannies and crevices in the flesh that you can see in the photo above are just waiting for the marinade to seep into!😂

Note: The surface of the flesh will turn a bit white, from the lemon “cooking” the meat. Don’t be alarmed – it’s supposed to happen and has no effect on the final result.

How to cook a Butterflied Lamb Leg (BBQ or oven)

Because the lamb leg meat is “butterflied” out so it lays relatively flat, it makes it perfect for cooking on the BBQ, which you can’t really do with a bone in lamb leg. Lamb LOVES to be grilled, and it really brings out the best of those tasty Greek flavours!

Having said that, your good ol’ oven will do a sensational job too. In fact, while the Butterflied Lamb Leg you see in the video is grilled, the one in the photos was seared on the stove then finished in the oven (to finish cooking it through more evenly).

1. Make marinade – Mix the marinade ingredients in a large ziplock bag;
   

2. Marinate lamb – Add the lamb, massage well, then marinate for 24 hours (minimum 3 hours). Ziplock bags really are the most effective and efficient way to marinate this lamb because it keeps the meat fully enveloped with the marinade. If you prefer to use a bowl or container, increase the marinade by at least 50%, and toss once or twice during the marinating time;
   

3. BBQ, or stove + oven – Cook the lamb either on the BBQ (20 minutes) OR on the stove followed by finishing it in the oven (22 – 25 minutes).

   Stove ➔ oven: Starting on the stove and finishing in the oven is the best method for thick cuts of meat like butterflied lamb leg. If you try to cook it just using the stove, you’ll end up with a thick band of overcooked meat on the outer edges by the time the middle cooks through.

   On the other hand, if you try to cook it just using the oven, you won’t get much colour on the surface. Nobody wants a colourless piece of lamb!

   BBQ: The ideal. The heat of a BBQ is more ambient compared to the direct contact heat of a stove, so you can cook it perfectly – as you will see on the video. Plus of course, you get all those smoky extra flavours from the grilling. Got charcoal? Even better. Bonus points for you!
   .

4. Pull temperature = 57°C/135°F – The right time to pull the lamb off the BBQ / out of the oven for medium rare is when the internal temperature reaches 57°C/135°F. It will rise a little while resting (next step);
   

5. Temp rises during resting to 62°C/144°F – Resting the lamb is essential, to let the juices redistribute throughout the meat as it sits. If you try slicing before resting, all those juices just run everywhere!

   As the lamb rests, the lamb continues to cook a little more due to the residual heat. The internal temperature will rise to 62°C/144°F. This is precisely medium-rare, the optimal doneness for lamb leg so that it’s a blushing pink and beautifully juicy;
   

6. Plate up and serve! Put it out whole and let people carve their own slices off at the table, or you can serve it already sliced (my preference) for ease of serving.

Internal temperature of Butterflied Leg of Lamb

KEY TIP! Pull the lamb off the BBQ/oven before the target internal temperature is reached because it will rise by around 5°C/7°F as it rests. If you don’t pull the lamb off/out early, the lamb will be overdone by the time it’s rested – and how sad will that be?! 😞

* Pull temperature is the internal temperature at which the lamb should be taken off the BBQ or out of the oven. ** This is what the internal temperature will rise to after resting, and this is your final Target Temperature for your desired level of doneness.

The reality is, because of the uneven thickness of a butterflied leg of lamb, while most of it can be a perfect medium rare, the thinner edges will be unavoidably medium or even medium-well done. But that actually works perfectly to cater for guests who prefer their lamb more well-cooked!

How to serve Greek Butterflied Lamb

This dish is fabulous for gatherings, shared platter-style, or a quick summer meal that will feed your family over a couple of nights. Here are some serving options and suggested sides:

• To start: Spanakopita – This lovely spinach pie, cut into small pieces, makes a fine first course before the main event;

• Greek Salad – A big, juicy, fresh Greek Salad is literally made to serve alongside this lamb;

• Flatbreads – Stuff the meat inside for homemade lamb wraps!

• Rice (and similar) sides – such as Greek Lemon Rice, Mediterranean Brown Rice Salad, Greek Lemon Orzo Salad (Risoni)

• Fast no cook side option – Couscous. Douse it generously with lemon, toss through some chopped tomato and cucumber if you’re feeling it, maybe some sliced olives. YUM.

• Marinated Greek-flavoured Chickpea Salad (this is really, really good)

• Bright, zesty Lentil Salad or try this Roasted Eggplant Lentil Salad

• Tzatziki as an accompaniment (use the one in my Gyros recipe) or even just plain yogurt jazzed up with a squeeze of lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.

The platter pictured in this post features the Greek Salad, store-bought flatbreads (you can do better!) and Tzatziki.

Enjoy! – Nagi x

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Greek Butterflied Lamb Leg

Recipe video above. This is a terrific, bold Greek marinade for lamb that both tenderises and infuses it with garlicky, herby, lemon flavours.

Butterflied lamb leg is a fantastic way to enjoy lamb because the flattened shape means it can be cooked relatively quickly compared to roasting a whole leg. In fact, I think that butterflied lamb leg is one of the best cuts of lamb for the BBQ!

Course BBQ/Grilling, Mains

Cuisine Greek

Keyword BBQ lamb leg, butterflied lamb leg, Greek lamb

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Marinating 1 day day

Servings 8 + people

Calories 430cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

• 1.5 – 1.8kg / 3 – 3.6 lb butterflied (ie. boneless) lamb leg (Note 1)

Marinade:

• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 3 large garlic cloves , minced using garlic press
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp zest (= zest of 1 lemon)
• 1/2 cup olive oil

For cooking:

• 1 tbsp oil (for brushing BBQ or for stove sear)

Serving options:

• Lemon , for garnish
• Oregano leaves , optional garnish as pictured
• Flatbreads or store bought pita breads
• Greek Salad
• Tzatziki (use recipe in Gryos) or just use plain yogurt
• More ideas listed in post

Cups – Metric

Instructions

• Mix marinade ingredients in a large ziplock bag.
• Add lamb, massage bag well to get the marinade into all the meat cracks and crevices.
• Seal bag and marinate for 24 hours (3 hours minimum).
• Remove lamb from the fridge 1 hour prior to cooking (to take fridge chill out for more even cooking).

BBQ:

• Brush grates with oil then preheat BBQ until very hot. (Takes a good 15 minutes, lid closed, with my basic gas BBQ).
• Remove lamb from marinade and place on the grill, fat side down.
• Cook for 12 minutes, then turn and cook the flesh side for 8 minutes, or until the internal temperature in the thickest part registers 57°C / 135°F for medium-rare or desired pull temperature (see Note 3).
• Loosely cover with foil, and rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Stove/Oven (Note 2):

• Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (all oven types). Place a rack on a tray.
• Cut lamb into 2 or 3 large pieces so it fits in your skillet.
• Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Sear until golden brown on both sides, around 2 – 3 minutes each side. (Note: It will not colour much more in the oven)
• Roast for 22 – 25 minutes, or until the thickest part registers 57°C / 135°F for medium-rare or desired pull temperature (see Note 3).
• Remove from oven, loosely cover with foil, and rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Serving:

• Either slice it at the table, or slice prior to serving and pile onto a platter. Fabulous served with Greek Salad, Tzatziki and flatbreads, as pictured in post.
• More side suggestions: Lemon Rice, Mediterranean Rice Salad, Greek Chickpea Salad, Lemon Orzo Salad.

Notes

1. Butterflied lamb leg – This is a lamb leg with the bone removed. I buy mine already butterflied. Otherwise, ask your butcher to bone out a whole lamb leg or do it yourself (use a boning or long, skinny knife and take your time; it’s not too difficult.)

2. Stove/Oven – Don’t try to cook the lamb all the way through on the stove, you’ll end up with a thick band over overcooked lamb before the inside cooks. Needs to be seared on the stove then finished in the oven.

3. Internal temperature cooked lamb:

TIP for even cooking: Butterflied lamb leg is not perfectly even in thickness all the way through. The thinner parts will be more done than the thickest parts, but this usually works out well because there’s always someone around that likes their meat more well done! However, if you really want every part to be perfectly medium rare, just cut the thinner parts off the heat earlier. It tends to be the flappy ends so they will detach easily!

4. Nutrition per serving, assuming 8 servings and that 3 tbsp of the oil ends up in the finished dish. Excludes sides.

Nutrition

Serving: 187g | Calories: 430cal | Protein: 37g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 9.5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9.9g | Cholesterol: 168.3mg | Sodium: 411mg | Potassium: 606.6mg | Calcium: 18.7mg | Iron: 3.7mg

Life of Dozer

Another kind of leg. No doubt the other half of him is up to no good…..

The post Greek Butterflied Lamb Leg appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.