I’m serving this as part of the Nourishing Traditions Valentine’s Day meal… to see the results post please go here.
Tips for making a Leg of Lamb:
- Definitely use a meat thermometer. I recommend using one with a sensor that you can keep in during the cooking process. It worked really well. I also placed the leg of lamb on a rack.
- I did very little to the vegetables besides throwing them in the pan and sprinkling salt over them. No butter or olive oil. I just set the rosemary over the veggies. Everything roasted perfectly. I put all of the veggies in the pan at the beginning, not just the last half hour as the recipe says below.
- The sauce was good but leave time at the end to reduce it thoroughly (by at least half). Mine was a little too watery from my beef stock because I was rushed. I did use the optional gelatin and I do recommend using that.
- The next day, make ‘Leftover Leg of Lamb Soup‘… with the lamb, bones, and leftover sauce. Or just freeze the leftovers until you’d like to make the soup.
Rating: 1 fork (key)
Disclaimer: two of my guests loved the lamb, but my husband and our girls did not like the idea of eating it. It was very mild but they said it tasted ‘gamey’
Difficulty:
Easy
Page in NT: 343
Ingredients:
1 small leg of lamb
3 T butter
3 T dijon-type mustard, smooth or grainy
1 onion, peeled and sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
several sprigs fresh thyme, rosemary or tarragon
a meat thermometer
12 new potatoes [TNC: I added carrots, onion, red potatoes and brussel sprouts]
1/2 cup dry white wine or vermouth
3-4 cups beef stock (or lamb stock)
1 T gelatin
sea salt
Preparation:
Peel the garlic cloves but leave them whole. Place garlic and onion in a stainless steel roasting pan. Set the leg of lamb, fat side up, on a rack in the pan. Melt butter with mustard, mix thoroughly and brush on the lamb. Place sprig of herbs on top and insert the meat thermometer. Set in an oven preheated to 450 degrees and reduce heat immediately to 350 degrees. Cook until the thermometer registers rare or medium rare, about 15 minutes to the pound. One half hour before the roast finishes, strew the potatoes around the roast on the rack.
Remove the roast, set on a heated platter and keep warm in the oven while finishing the potatoes and making the sauce. Remove the rack. Cut potatoes in half and place cut side down in the drippings. Bake another 15 minutes or so until the potatoes are soft. Transfer them to the heated platter. Pour wine, stock and optional gelatin into the pan and bring to a rapid boil, stirring with a wooden spoon to scrape up any accumulated juices. Boil until the sauce reduces to about 1 cup, skimming occasionally. Season to taste.
