A rare December sunny day let me do some work cleaning up the veg garden. Fortunately, X-mas dinner featured a roast leg of lamb. I had a free 1 1/2 hour while it was in the oven. My garden’s Brussel sprouts survived our recent -15 F freeze, so they were tossed with olive oil and baked as well, along with russet Burbank potatoes and delicate squash, all from the garden.
Leg of Lamb
Author:
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 1 hour 40 mins
Total time: 1 hour 55 mins
Ingredients
- 1 leg of lamb, bone in (6 lbs)
- Juice of one lemon
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper
- For sauce –
- 1 cup chopped fresh rosemary and parsley
- One medium onion, diced
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup red wine
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Sprinkle the lamb with the lemon juice.
- Combine minced garlic, chopped rosemary, salt and pepper.
- Pat the mixture evenly all over the surface of the meat.
- Season the meat with the salt and pepper and place in a roasting pan.
- Roast for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue to cook for about 1 1/2 hours longer for medium-rare.
- Meat thermometer inserted into the center of the roast should register 146 degrees. Remove lamb from pan and allow to rest for 10 to 15 minutes before carving.
- Meanwhile, prepare sauce.
- Position the roasting pan over stove burners.
- Add mixed herbs and onions to pan, and stir to combine with pan drippings.
- Add chicken stock and wine to deglaze the pan.
- Reduce over high heat until to thicken. Strain before serving.
- Slice lamb and serve with sauce drizzled over the top.