Roast leg of lamb

TIME2 hours MAKES5-6 servings PORTION
0.5x 1x 2x 3x

I adapted this recipe from a recipe for slow-roasted lamb shoulder from a free Coles magazine. Even though this is neither slow-roasted nor a lamb shoulder, the marinade works really well for roast cuts of lamb in general.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 3kg leg of lamb (or you can use a 1.5 kg half leg)

Marinade

  • 4 anchovies
  • 6-8 cloves of garlic
  • 3-4 sprigs of rosemary
  • 100ml olive oil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • Juice and zest of 1-2 lemons

STEPS

  1. Make the marinade by placing all ingredients in a food processor and blending until you get a creamy paste.

  2. Using a paring knife, make 1-2cm slits all over the lamb, and rub in the marinade. Place the lamb on a rack in a baking tray, and place it uncovered in the fridge for 2 hours up to overnight.

  3. Preheat the oven to 240ºC. Roast the lamb for 20 minutes, then turn the oven temperature down to 200ºC and roast until the internal temperature reaches about 53-55ºC1. As a rule of thumb, the approximate total roast time is 20-25 minutes for every 500g.

  4. Transfer the lamb to a place, and rest tented under foil for 20 minutes to 1 hour. The lamb will continue to carry-over cook, and will rise to 63ºC (medium rare).

NOTES

The original recipe was very similar, but with the following differences:

  • The lamb shoulder is coated with flour and seared first. Once cooled, it is coated with the marinade paste.

  • Preheat the oven to a much lower temperature (150ºC).

  • 250ml of red wine is reduced by half in a dutch oven, and 500ml of chicken stock is added.

  • The lamb shoulder is placed into a dutch oven, and slow roasted (turning halfway) until tender and falling apart, about 3 hours covered and 30 minutes uncovered.

  1. For medium, remove the lamb when it reaches 55-57ºC. ↩︎