Classic greek roasted leg of lamb with lemon-garlic potatoes

Submitted by Poppy

"A very nice and juicy leg of lamb.(Does not include marinade time.)"

 

• Ready In: 1hr 55mins
• Ingredients: 23
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 1 (8 lb) leg of lamb, bone in

• For the marinade

• 1 head garlic
• 2 tablespoons Greek oregano
• 2 tablespoons greek thyme
• 2 tablespoons dried rosemary
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice
• 4 cups dry red wine
• salt and pepper

• Dry rub for the lamb

• 6 -8 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 tablespoons oregano
• 2 tablespoons thyme
• 2 tablespoons rosemary
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• salt

• For rubbing the lamb

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• For the potatoes

• 6 lbs roasting potatoes, peeled and cut lengthwise into six wedges
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1 cup lemon juice
• water
• 1 -2 tablespoon oregano
• salt and pepper
• 2 -3 cloves garlic

directions

1. Trim the excess fat off the lamb and set aside.
2. Finely chop the whole garlic head.
3. Combine with the remaining marinade ingredients.
4. Place the lamb in a large, deep container or baking dish and pour in the marinade.
5. Turn the lamb in the marinade so that it is coated all over.
6. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
7. Using a mortar and pestle, crush the ingredients for the dry rub all together until they are pastelike in consistency.
8. Remove the lamb from the marinade and discard the marinade.
9. Make 10-15 small incisions all over its surface using a small, sharp paring knife.
10. Stuff each of these little holes with the dry rub and rub whatever is left over the surface of the lamb.
11. Season well with salt and pepper and rub the lamb with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
12. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
13. Place the potatoes in a large roasting pan and toss with the lemon juice, garlic, olive oil and oregano.
14. Season well with salt and pepper.
15. Place the lamb over the potatoes.
16. Roast, frequently basting both the lamb and the potatoes with the pan juices for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, for a well-done leg.
17. Add a little water to the pan during baking if necessary to keep the pan juices from drying out.
18. Remove the lamb from the oven and let rest for about 10 minutes before carving.
19. Keep the potatoes in the turned off oven until ready to serve.

Reviews

[Chef Donette]

Great flavours and taste. However I ended up with lots of liquid in the roast and the potatoes did not crisp. Of course, this is the first time I have cooked lamb. Maybe I should know more about it.

 

[Noushik H.]

terrible recipe... cooked following all instructions. the suggested temperature was too low. Meat never cooked thoroughly and came out very tough. Not the traditional greek recipe at all.

 

[Jopalis]

I made this using a boneless lamb roast. I trimmed it up a bit and pounded it a little. I marinated it overnight and spread the rub inside and on the outside. Rolled it up and cooked it on the rotisserie/bbq. It was delicious! Thank you.

 

[Suzie Boozie]

While in Dublin a few years ago, my husband and I had the BEST roasted lamb and I decided to try to find a recipe that could come close to that. I was out of rosemary, so for the lamb rub, I added 2 tbs. olive oil, 3 tbs. minced garlic, salt & pepper to taste and 6 tbs. of McCormick's Garlic & Herb Seasoning. We used a roaster for an hour and a half (instead of oven) and it came out perfect!! This recipe is a keeper. Thanks for posting!

 

[Lightly Toasted]

This was excellent. I made this for Father's Day, and cooked it on the grill in a big pan (too hot to heat up the kitchen!) Everyone loved it. The meat was tender and flavorful, the potatoes were crisp on the outside, and tender on the inside.