The origins of this dish are mainly Greek. I purchased a leg of lamb, boned it, saved the bones for stock and cooked the meat on the spit. All this trouble is unnecessary though. I went through the trouble since I am planning to use the bones for lamb stock. If you want to skip this step, simply visit your butcher and ask for your leg of lamb boned and tied for spit roasting.
Marinade-
4-5 cloves garlic, skin removed
1 cup olive oil
Place the lamb into a large plastic baggie along with the oil and garlic-
Marinate in fridge 1-2 days
When ready to cook-
2 Tablespoons Kosher salt
1 Tablespoon freshly ground pepper
1-2 Tablespoons dried oregano or Marjoram
Juice from ½ a lemon
½ teaspoon paprika (Spanish)
Remove lamb from marinade, lay it flat on a countertop and season it on both sides with salt pepper and Marjoram. (If pre tied just do your best to stuff some seasonings inside log of meat. Add the Marinade liquid (oil) and rub it into the meat and scatter the garlic cloves over the meat (or stuff then into the log). Pour the juice from half a lemon all over the lamb. Roll, and then tie up the meat with about 2-3 feet of butchers twine, so that it will not come loose on the spit. Insert metal rod and rotisserie prongs to hold the meat in place. Season the outer areas of the lamb with paprika then place in your oven to cook for 2- 2 ½ hours. I prefer a longer cooking time so that the outer parts of the lamb get almost crunchy, though this obviously will cause the inner areas to be pink but not medium rare, as many American are used to eating their lamb.
Optional garnishes-
Lamb sauce – I like to take the lamb juices, skimmed of fat and strained, and add them to a saucepan. Add in about 1 tablespoon demi-glaze, 1 cup water, a dash of heavy cream and season with salt and pepper. Cook this down to desired consistency and serve over lamb.
Lemon confit- if you made lemon confit (see recipe) then you will remove 1 lemon from salty brine, rinse it, cut off pulp and white pith and mince up yellow zest. This adds a nice salty note to the lamb and pretty color as well
Chive oil- if you have some around it add a lovely green color
Tapinade- (see recipe) chunks of tapinade all over the lamb are fantastic
Marinade-
4-5 cloves garlic, skin removed
1 cup olive oil
Place the lamb into a large plastic baggie along with the oil and garlic-
Marinate in fridge 1-2 days
When ready to cook-
2 Tablespoons Kosher salt
1 Tablespoon freshly ground pepper
1-2 Tablespoons dried oregano or Marjoram
Juice from ½ a lemon
½ teaspoon paprika (Spanish)
Remove lamb from marinade, lay it flat on a countertop and season it on both sides with salt pepper and Marjoram. (If pre tied just do your best to stuff some seasonings inside log of meat. Add the Marinade liquid (oil) and rub it into the meat and scatter the garlic cloves over the meat (or stuff then into the log). Pour the juice from half a lemon all over the lamb. Roll, and then tie up the meat with about 2-3 feet of butchers twine, so that it will not come loose on the spit. Insert metal rod and rotisserie prongs to hold the meat in place. Season the outer areas of the lamb with paprika then place in your oven to cook for 2- 2 ½ hours. I prefer a longer cooking time so that the outer parts of the lamb get almost crunchy, though this obviously will cause the inner areas to be pink but not medium rare, as many American are used to eating their lamb.
Optional garnishes-
Lamb sauce – I like to take the lamb juices, skimmed of fat and strained, and add them to a saucepan. Add in about 1 tablespoon demi-glaze, 1 cup water, a dash of heavy cream and season with salt and pepper. Cook this down to desired consistency and serve over lamb.
Lemon confit- if you made lemon confit (see recipe) then you will remove 1 lemon from salty brine, rinse it, cut off pulp and white pith and mince up yellow zest. This adds a nice salty note to the lamb and pretty color as well
Chive oil- if you have some around it add a lovely green color
Tapinade- (see recipe) chunks of tapinade all over the lamb are fantastic
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