Ingredients
- 4 to 5 pound half bone in leg of lamb
- 4 to 5 tablespoons of olive oil, or oil of choice
- Zest and juice from 1 large lemon, preferably a Meyer lemon
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed or minced plus 2 whole cloves garlic set aside
- Few sprigs fresh mint
- Few sprigs fresh rosemary
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 pound baby new potatoes, organic is best, cut in chunks
- 3 large organic carrots, cut into chunks
- 1 cup gluten-free vegetable stock
Directions
Start by letting the lamb sit out and come to room temperature before cooking. This will ensure it doesn’t get tough when roasting and keep it nice and juicy. Nothing is worse than a tough piece of meat!
While that’s resting, start by making the marinade. In a medium measuring cup add together the olive oil, the lemon zest and juice, the 3 cloves of garlic paste, lots of salt and pepper and stir well.
Next pick the leaves off the mint stalks and most of the rosemary as well, keeping a few sprigs of rosemary whole for the pan.
Roughly chop the herbs and add into the marinade. Stir well and set aside.
Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Once the lamb is at room temperature, place it into a large roasting pan or tray. Find the fatty cap side of the lamb and be sure that is the side that is facing up.
With a sharp knife, poke several holes all on the fat cap side of the lamb, or if preferred you can score the lamb with a sharp knife. Either way, you want there to be incisions where all the lovely marinade can get into.
Once the holes are made, give the marinade a stir to mix well then pour half of the mixture on top of lamb. With clean hands, massage the marinade into all sides of the lamb making sure the fatty cap side is facing up when finished massaging. Don’t be afraid here, give it a nice rub so all the goodness gets absorbed.
Next place the potato and carrot chunks all around the sides of the lamb. Add in the other 2 whole garlic cloves and a few sprigs of rosemary, whole.
Pour the remaining half of the marinade all over the potatoes and carrots and season all generously with a bit more salt and pepper.
Roast at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes.
After the 45 minutes, take the roast out of the oven and pour the cup of stock into the pan over the vegetables. Stir the vegetables well to coat in the juices and stock and place back into the 400 degree F oven using the guidelines below:
For Rare: cook for a further 30 minutes
For Medium Rare: cook a further 35 to 40 minutes
For Well Done: cook a further 45 minutes
After the cooking time you prefer, remove pan from oven and tent/cover the pan with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing.
You can either slice and plate everything up to serve or, what I love to do is just bring this beauty out to the table and carve it tableside. It’s much more fun and it allows everyone to get whatever it is they prefer.
You can also reserve the drippings from the pan and make a gravy if desired.
Serve with any sides and vegetables you fancy. This makes an incredible center piece for Easter, but this is a beautiful roast dinner fit for any time! Enjoy.
