This super delicious dish not only looks good but tastes amazing too. It does take quite a long cooking time, but to be fair it’s relatively easy to make because all you have to do is set aside some time for prep, then place it in the oven for about 1 hour and a half and it’ll slowly develop delicious flavours while you could be off doing something else.
When the cooking’s done and your kitchen and home (and possibly your entire neighbourhood) are filled with the appetizing smell of your lamb roast, all you need to do is prepare your carving set and carve away!
To cook a succulent lamb roast, you could either use lamb shoulder or lamb leg. Both would turn up nice and juicy, however, the lamb leg is nicer because it has more meat so will be easier to carve and yields bigger pieces of meat.
To prep the meat, make small incisions using a sharp knife all over the meat to create small cavities (remember to turn it over and make incisions in the back as well).
Fill the cavities with rosemary and peeled garlic (if your garlic is too large you could slice them and use garlic slivers instead). When you’re done, rub the meat all over generously with olive oil, and then add salt and pepper. You can also sprinkle some dried thyme on top.
It’s best you let it marinate overnight in the fridge however if you’re unable to do it then you can still roast it after marinating. Let it sit for about an hour at room temperature then roast it.
(Note: If you wish to marinate overnight, wrap the meat tightly in film and place it in the fridge.)
When you’re ready to cook the meat, place the roast on a roasting tray placed inside a large baking tray. This will allow you to collect the juices of the roast in the baking tray and you might wish to cook with them, make a gravy, or discard them at the end of the roasting.
I like to roast some onions, garlic, and potatoes in the lamb juices, so I usually add them underneath the lamb, inside the baking tray.
Place your roast in an oven pre-heated to 200 °C, and let it roast for 1 hour and 30 minutes for medium. Increase the cooking time by 15 minutes or more to achieve your desired doneness of the meat if you don’t like to serve it and eat it pink. When the cooking time has finished, turn on the broiler in your oven and let the roast sit there for about 5 minutes (Make sure you’re watching it the whole time though to prevent the meat from burning!). This step is very important because it’ll allow the top layer of the roast to crisp up and change into a beautiful golden colour.
Take the roast out of the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes before serving. Take out the roasted potatoes, garlic and onions from the roasting pan and drain off any excess fat while the meat is resting.
To serve, carve the meat with a sharp carving knife and cut thin slices of the meat. Serve alongside the roasted potatoes and garlic and onions. Bon appétit!
Lamb Leg / Shoulder Roast (Gigot)
Ingredients
Method
- To prep the meat, make small incisions using a sharp knife all over the meat to create small cavities (remember make incisions in the back of the meat as well).
- Fill the cavities with rosemary and peeled garlic (slice the garlic into slivers if it's too large), then rub the meat with olive oil and add salt and pepper.
- You may want to sprinkle some dried thyme on top.
- Let the meat sit for about an hour at room temperature before roasting it. You could also marinate the meat overnight by wrapping it in film and placing in the fridge.
- If you marinate the meat overnight, take it out of the fridge and let it sit a couple of hours at room temperature before roasting it.
- To cook the meat, carefully put the roast on a roasting tray placed inside a large baking tray. This will allow you to collect the juices of the roast in the baking tray and you might wish to cook with them, make a gravy, or discard at the end of the roasting.
- Cut the onions in half, add the unpeeled garlic cloves and potatoes under the lamb's roasting tray so they roast in the lamb juices.
- Place your roast in an oven pre-heated to 200 °C, and let it roast for 1 hour and 30 minutes for medium. Increase the cook time by 15 minutes or more to achieve your desired doneness of the meat if you don't like to serve it and eat it pink.
- When the cook time has finished, turn on the broiler in your oven and roast for about 5 more mins (Make sure you're watching it the whole time though to prevent the meat from burning!).
- Take the roast out of the oven when the top is crispy and golden. Let it rest for 15 minutes before serving. Take out the roasted potatoes, garlic and onions from the roasting pan and drain off any excess fat while the meat is resting.
- To serve, carve the meat with a sharp carving knife and cut thin slices of the meat. Serve alongside the roasted potatoes and garlic and onions. Bon appétit!