Roast Lamb

ROAST LAMB 

Roast Lamb represents so many  great memories for me, of my childhood,  growing up in New Zealand.   It was the classic Sunday dinner after church.  My Mom would throw it in the oven and it would be all ready by the time we got home.  We'd always invite a few extra people home with us, to share the meal.  So for me this is the ultimate comfort food.  Nowadays the only time we eat it is Christmas and Easter, because its so expensive.  So I savor these special occasions, as it brings back so many great memories.  These days I'm the one cooking the roast and my parents are the guests at my table.

Roasting anything is always an easy way to make great food for guests with hardly any effort.  You aren't rushing around at the last... all the prep is done in advance and you just carve and serve. Roasting the vegetables along with the meat saves heaps of time as well.  And they taste so good!

Here's what you'll need:

 One  3 - 6 lb leg of lamb (with bone or without bone)
 5 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp  Fresh rosemary leaves chopped
1 Tbsp Fresh Thyme leaves chopped
1 lemon, juiced
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp Salt and  1 tsp pepper

Preheat the oven to 500 oF
Get a large roasting pan and put a wire rack in the bottom
Mix the garlic, rosemary, thyme, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl.  Then massage into the outside of the roast. 
Place the roast on the rack in the roasting pan. Sprinkle additional salt on the fat.
Cook for 15 mins in the oven on 500 oF, then lower temperature to 400 oF and cook for 45 mins more, then lower temperature to 325 oF and cook for 1 hour more, until meat is done and juices are no longer blood red. 

 I put peeled carrots, parsnips and onion around the meat. And roasted purple potatoes, yams and sweet potatoes in a separate pan with some olive oil and salt.

Remove the roast from the pan and let rest, covered for about 20 mins, before carving.
To make the gravy......Get some of the grease out of the roasting pan with a paper towel, then add
wine and chicken stock to the roasting pan, placed over a burner, and stir and loosen all the crunchy drippings.  Add a slurry of corn starch and water to thicken, stirring until just boiling with a wire whisk. 

 Traditionally, we serve it with mint sauce and gravy, and have peas as the green vegetable.