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Roast Leg of Lamb with Garlic and Rosemary – Sunday dinner at Mom’s calls for a recipe on a “pièce de résistance” scale. This past Sunday it was an old fashioned roast leg of lamb.
Yes, I am blowing the diet to a certain extent but every so often, she enjoys a regular type of meal rather than the draconian diet required on most days. It also provides her with a ready made meal to enjoy during the week.
Secrets To The Best Roasts – Top Leg of Lamb Cuts
Roast Leg of Lamb Is Perfect For Any Sunday Dinner – Easter Too!
Red Fork Lemon Herb Asparagus Skillet Sauce, 4 oz
This week’s menu included steamed asparagus coated in a light lemon herb seasoning sauce (made by Red Fork®).
Baby carrots add a touch of color and who does not like sweet and tender veggies?
Libby’s has a new line of premium canned vegetables.
We’ve tried the peas – they’re delicious and so are the green beans.
For the roast, I selected an Open Nature™ five pound semi-boneless leg of lamb. It was marinated for several hours in a mixture of:
- Garlic, crushed
- Lemon juice (about 1.4 cup fresh squeezed)
- Robust flavored olive oil with a teaspoon of black truffle flavored olive oil
- Parsley, chopped
- Fresh rosemary, chopped
- Crushed black pepper and Sea salt, to taste
- 5 lb. semi boneless leg of lamb
Chop the parsley, rosemary and garlic cloves in a small food processor until chopped. Transfer to a large bowl.
Drizzle the herbs with olive oil and season to taste. Pat the roast dry with paper towels then place in the bowl. Coat evenly on both sides with the marinade. Cover tightly and marinate for at least 2 hours, turning the roast several times.
Place the roast in a disposable roasting pan and season to taste with more salt and freshly cracked pepper.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Roast at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Then, lower the oven temperature to 325 to 350* degrees and continue roasting until the meat is cooked to your liking.
We light it pink in the middle which is equivalent to 15 minutes to the pound. I consider 20 minutes per pound cooking to be well done leg of lamb.
Allow to rest for about 10 minutes before slicing.
Needless to say, the same recipe can be used for a boneless roast or a full leg of lamb. Just adjust the cooking time accordingly.
- Roast a 5 to 7 lbs. bone-in leg of lamb, at 325* for 20 to 25 minutes to the pound for medium rare or 30 to 35 minutes to the pound for well done.
- Roast a boneless, 4 to 7 lbs. rolled and tied leg of lamb at 325* 25 to 30 minutes to the pound for medium rare and 35 to 40 minutes to the pound for well done.
I would normally add small golden potatoes to roast along with the meat but these potatoes had a dual purpose: a dinner side dish and the basis for our favorite leftover dish – Sheperd’s Pie.
Mom is allowed russet potatoes twice a week. To remove even more starch, I allowed the potatoes to sit in ice water and rinsed them several times over a period of two hours.
What Is Lamb Without Mint Jelly?
Yes, why mint jelly with lamb? Going to mention it up front. I am not into mint jelly with lamb or any other meat.
That is not to say that many cannot separate the two. As cranberry relish goes with turkey, mint jelly goes with lamb. But… remember that true mint jelly is not a sweet jelly – rather a very traditional British savory sauce. Cross & Blackwell® makes superb mint jelly. So does Polaner®.
That little fact does not change my mind. I was no more partial to mint is Greek pastitsio – as good as it tasted. Pastitsio was a thousand times better without mint.
If you are going to make it traditional, buy the smallest jar of mint jelly you can find. If it happens to be old-fashioned McCutcheon`s® mint apple jelly then all is good. But I’ll stick to spreading mine on toast. 🙂
McCutcheon`s Mint Apple Jelly