I literally love lamb EVERYTHING but I am also picky on how it's made. In South Africa, lamb dishes are very common. When I first moved to USA it took me a while to find good lamb suppliers. If I decide to make a roast back leg of lamb, my usual go to store is Costco. They have good quality de-boned lamb back legs at reasonable prices (US price scale, haha).
This recipe for roast lamb is very simple in flavor. As much as I love to use chili and curry spices in almost all my dishes, I do not for the roast lamb. I really enjoy roast lamb with simple flavors and then I like to serve a hot/spicy tomato chutney or baked beans as a side to compliment.
This dish is so easy to prepare that it's great for when you have guests over. Just make sure you time it accordingly and put it in the oven with enough time to cook. While it's in the oven you can prepare sides or do other things.
Rosemary or Thyme, whichever you have on hand add a lovely taste to the lamb. A good tip is to make some small slits in the lamb, so when you rub in the flavors they penetrate the meat better.
Two key points for this delicious roast lamb:
Use fresh garlic that has been crushed pressed through a garlic press. It makes ALL the difference. My friend Shandini introduced me to the garlic press and it is one of my most used kitchen tools.
Use a meat thermometer. It makes it so much easier than trying to guess. Simply insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the meat for the reading.
If I'm using about 4.5 lbs of meat then I know I can start checking the temperature after about 1.5 hrs. The general guidelines for temperatures vs "doneness" I use is: 145 deg F for a more rare result, 155 deg F for a medium-well result and 165 deg F for well done. While my family likes the meat well done, I still remove the lamb from the oven when the "thickest" part is 155 deg F for a couple reasons. I sometimes have guests who like a more rare serving - removing the lamb at this point allows for the thinner outer portions to be well done while the thicker portion will be a more medium-well serving. I can make both guest types happy! Also if there is any left over, we can slice and reheat for delicious sandwiches. Reheating in the toaster oven or microwave ends up cooking the meat a bit more - if the meat is slightly rare before the process, it ensures the meat does not overcook or dry out.
Also it is important to tent the roast lamb with foil and let sit for 10 min - 15 min once removed from the oven. It lets the juices settle while you get everyone to sit at the table (it tastes best served immediately and sliced at the table).
This goes extremely well with creamy mashed potatoes, fresh crusty bread or bread rolls, green salad and spicy baked beans or spicy tomato chutney (click for recipe ---> https://www.thanustriedandtested.com/post/spicy-tomato-chutney )
Roast Lamb (Back Leg) Recipe
Yield ~ 10 servings
Prep time ~ 5-10 min
Cook Time ~ 1.5 hrs
Ingredients
~4.5lbs de-boned lamb back leg
2 tsp salt (or to taste)
2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
8 cloves garlic (crushed or pressed)
few sprigs of rosemary or thyme
1 Tbsp olive oil
Method
Preheat oven at 400 deg F. Line a baking tray with foil and coat with olive oil.
Make tiny slits in the lamb with a small sharp knife.
Rub salt, pepper, garlic and leaves of thyme/rosemary all over the leg of lamb.
Fold the lamb into it's natural shape and place on greased foil and place in the oven.
Allow to cook for approximately 1.5 hrs or until desired serving preference as measured by a instant read thermometer. Feel free to brush some of the pan oils over the lamb as it cooks (not necessary to do this too often). If the top is getting too brown before it is at the cooked preference, tent with foil and continue cooking.
Remove from oven, cover or tent with foil and let stand for 10 min - 15 min.
Serve immediately with desired sides like spicy tomato chutney and creamy mashed potatoes.
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