I am not a big cooker or eater of lamb. In fact, the blog has been open over a year and there are almost 400 recipes posted and this is the first lamb one. I’m sure my readers down under were wondering when I’d get things moving nad have some lamb on the blog. Here comes Maggie to the rescue with not just a little lamb, but a whole leg….
I never tried lamb until I was in my late 30’s. Boy, I didn’t know what I was missing. So. Dang. Good. I only make it once or twice a year, and it is always what we have for Easter dinner. The kids all love it, and it is such a nice, special treat.
Costco sells a great butterfly cut boneless leg of lamb. I usually roast this with the recipe below, and it is great. I have also eliminated the mint jelly, and placed it on the charcoal grill. Also delicious.
If you celebrate Easter, try lamb instead of ham or turkey. If you don’t celebrate Easter, find another reason to try this lamb roast. You won’t regret it!
Roasted Leg of Lamb
What you need:
1 4-6 lb boneless leg of lamb (Costco carries a lovely one- butter-flied, for a great price!)
3 Tbs Olive Oil
2-3 tsp rosemary
Salt
Pepper
Mint jelly, one jar
1/3 cup red wine
What to do:
Remove roast from package, rinse, pat dry with paper towel. Spray small roasting pan with cooking spray. Wash your hands, and drizzle the roast generously with olive oil- probably 3 Tbs or so. Rub it all over with your hands.
Wash the oil from your hands, and sprinkle all over with rosemary, salt and pepper. Be generous with the rosemary. Now, spoon out about ½ of the jar of mint jelly, and dig in with your hands again, rubbing it evenly over the roast.
Pop it in a 350 degrees for about an hour and 15 minutes, watching it for the last 20 minutes or so. Test temperature with a meat thermometer. I like it to reach medium doneness, with a hot, pink center. The ends will be more well done for those that like it less pink. Don’t over-cook the lamb. Trust me.
Once done to your taste, remove the lamb to platter and allow to rest for about 15 minutes. Place the roasting pan with juices over burners on the stove top, over medium high heat. Add about 1/3 cup of red wine to deglaze the pan, and reduce for about 10 minutes.
Pour into a gravy boat, serve over the lamb and roasted potatoes.
Rantings of an Amateur Chef 
This looks and sounds fanastic! I have only been eating lamb for about a year after ordering some amazing seared chops at a good restaurant near us. I’ve also made the chops at home and they were dynamite! Now that I’ve seen how simple it is to do a leg, I won’t hestitate next time I see it on sale 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
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I. Love. Lamb! This looks excellent.
I recently did a post on braised lamb shanks that you may enjoy.
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I am not a fan of lamb (actually I don’t eat it at all, ha ha) but this looks amazing!
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I never ate lamb much until moving to France – great for Easter!
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I love lamb. But as part of my allergy treatment I eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner for three days every four months. After those three days, I am done with it. The recipe and the lamb look delicious.
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My leg o lamb is in the freezer just waiting for Easter. I am salivating just thinking about it. It never occured to me to rub the jelly onto the leg–we always just use it as a condiment. But I can see how that would work. Lovely work!
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Looks terrific! I’ve been roasting stuff too lately haha Never tried using mint jelly though, I’ll give this recipe a shot!
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Lamb is great. This looks like a delicious recipe. Thanks for sharing!
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You have to have lamb at Easter x
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