The leg of lamb comes from the hind legs of the lamb and can be prepared beautifully rosé. This is in contrast to the lamb shoulder (front legs), which is suitable for stewing.
Leg of lamb is often found with the bone still inside. Although this adds extra flavor during preparation, it does make cutting it more difficult. So ask your butcher to cut the meat off the bone. Do not leave the bone at the butcher, but use it as base for a strong broth or sauce.
An entire leg with bone easily weighs two to two and a half kilograms, without the bone it weighs between approximately one and a quarter to one and a half kilograms. This ensures that you can enjoy it with six to eight people for sure.
To ensure that the meat cooks evenly and retains its shape, it is wise to tie it tightly with kitchen twine. Be sure to use a core thermometer so you can roast it to the right tenderness. The lower the temperature of the oven, the more tender the meat will be.
Oven roast leg of lamb
Ingredients
- 1 leg of lamb boneless
- 1 bulb garlic
- 1 cup Italian herbs
- splash olive oil
- 75 grams butter
- black pepper freshly grounded
- fleur de sel
Instructions
- Preheat the oven at 120 degrees. If you want the meat to cook faster, you can heat the oven at a maximum of 150 degrees.
- Tie the leg of lamb tightly with pieces of kitchen twine. Wrap a ribbon of kitchen twine around the meat and tie very tightly. The meat will shrink during cooking, so you have to tie it up tightly.
- Season generously with pepper and fleur de sel. Tuck the fresh herbs under the kitchen twine.
- Stick holes in the meat with a sharp knife and insert the garlic cloves.
- Heat a dash of olive oil in a fireproof casserole dish and fry the meat on all sides until it is nicely coloured on all sides.
- Add a knob of butter and spoon the juices over the meat. Insert a core thermometer into the thickest part of the meat and set the temperature to 52 degrees.
- Place in the preheated oven and cook to the set core temperature. Continue to drizzle the meat regularly with the butter.
- Remove it from the oven when the temperature has been reached, let it rest for 5 minutes and untie the string. Cut the leg of lamb into nice slices and spoon some butter on top of it.
