Roast Lamb with Rosemary and Anchovies, with Salsa Verde
I grew up around sheep. Their chewing and baa-ing woke me up in the mornings, and I would chase them back in when they got out, help round them up – jobs which I hated. Then, when the local abattoir stopped accepting sheep, I learned how to help out with that process, too. Maybe it was growing up on the farm, but I can’t recall a time where I didn’t know where meat came from, the animal and the meal were always linked, for me.
Needless to say, I ate a lot of lamb. The freezer was often full of lamb, and yes I got sick of it. Especially the time after out butcher friend came to teach us how to slaughter the lamb and how to break down the carcass. On that first solo mission we ended up with a lot of strange cuts of meat in the freezer.
For a recent dinner party I fell back on what I knew how to eat – Roast Lamb, tarted up with some rosemary, anchovies and garlic and served with Salsa Verde. This is maybe the perfect dinner party dish, you can do almost everything ahead of time, all that is required when the guests are present is checking for doneness (I am sure that isn’t a word), and carving.
I think though that my years of eating very pink lamb has influenced this roast – I like it really rare. Though, the wonderful thing about the roast is that you can get all kinds of different levels of cookedness (again, not a word!), just by eating slices from different places in that huge great hunk of meat, and boy was this buckets of lamb – we ate it all week. Next time I’ll get a smaller leg, or invite more people for this social dish.
Roast Leg of Lamb with Rosemary and Anchovies, with Salsa Verde.
6 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
2T rosemary, chopped
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 leg of lamb, bone in. (Mine was a whopping 2.4kgs, get some advice from your butcher, and vary cooking times accordingly)
1/4 cup olive oil
sea salt
black pepper
Mash anchovy and garlic together with a heavy knife or in a mortar and pestle, you are looking for a relatively smooth paste. Mix together with rosemary and oil.
Wash and dry your lamb, then remove any excess fat (or ask you butcher to do this for you). Make 5 or 6 1cm slits in the lamb (or go crazy, like I did), and push marinade into these holes, and rub over the entire leg. Leave at room temperature for 1 hour.
To Cook Lamb:
Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper, transfer to a deep baking tray and pour 1 cup of water in the bottom. Place in a hot oven (220C) and cook for 30 mins, then reduce the temperature to 200C. Cook for 15 mins per 500g. You may need to add more water, to ensure that the juices and the bottom of the lamb don’t burn.
To test, remove from oven and stab a sharp thin knife into the fattest section of the leg, a boning knife works really well for this, or a metal skewer. Leave the knife there for about a minute, then remove and touch it carefully against just below your bottom lip. If the skewer/knife feels hot then it is ready, if not, return to oven and check again in 10 minutes time. Alternatively, you can use a thermometer, or just trust your butcher.
You will now need to rest the lamb, for up to 30 mins. Cover with foil, I use two layers and leave in a warm place.
Carve, serve with vegetables and salsa verde.
It is especially good the next day on toasted sourdough with brie and salsa verde.
Salsa Verde
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 anchovy fillets, drained, chopped
2 1/2T capers, finely chopped
6 T flat leaf parsley, very finely chopped
3 T mint, very finely chopped
1 t white-wine vinegar
Mix all ingredients together, then let sit for the flavours to combine. This keeps quite well, and is a great foil for deep fried or fatty meats, and is wonderful with whole smoked trout.
This work, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
12 Comments
I’m a pink lamb fan too…nothing worse than over-cooked meat. Your recipe for salsa verde looks delicious. I usually use basil, but mint would be a lovely alternative.
I had to laugh about your strange cuts of meat! I guess you got the knack of it later?
The salsa verde sounds like a good contrast to the meat.
Lili, you’re making me -’food from homesick’
mmm lamb.
So much deliciousness, freshness and beauty taken for granted.
Will revisit it soon
That lamb looks so gorgeous and pink, and perfect with that salsa verde.
mmm yum. My BF doesn’t eat lamb, so not many opportunities for me to do a roast
Lili everytime i come to ur site you have mouth-watering recipes!
is there anything you can’t cook in a kitchen?
The meat looks super juicy and tenderrr
I was a teenager before I first tried lamb. My mum never cooked it as my dad was paranoid about cholesterol and every time we’d suggest it he’d ask “are you trying to kill me?” lol.
I love pinkish lamb too, so tender and juicy.
Oh and having different cuts of meat is handy. When we do a spit roast of pork or lamb we too end up with so many different cuts of the same carcass. The leftovers are useful for so many other dishes!
This must be a case of grass is greener on the other side, but I always wish that I grew up on a farm.
This sounds like my kind of dish. The photos are beautiful!
Gah gotta stop reading posts right before dinner… I looovveee lamb ^^! and this one is perfectly pink and juicy mmm
Hmmmmm Lamb!
Though I had a little break from eating lamb for awhile after eating VERY gamy one, I’m all up for some taste lambs. Your dish looks awesome!
Hedonistic Hostess: Thank you, I have a bit of an undercooking meat issue, though you can always cook it some more! Yeah, I seem to remember making Salsa Verde years ago with basil, but mint is wonderful with the lamb
Arwen from Hoglet K: Haha, yeah. The strange cuts of meat was actually my Dad. I wanted to sleep in and he came and woke me up at about 6am because he needed some help figuring the animal out, though I’m not sure how helpful I was. I think we only did it one more time, and now there aren’t any sheep on the farm.
pmum: I guess I did my job right then, if this is making you homesick
I’ll cook you a roast when you come home. love.
Y: Thanks, it was, though next time I’m buying a smaller leg. We ate lamb all week, and I’m not joking.
Reemski: Oh, shame. You could always do beef or pork, though it doesn’t really compare.
Smileona: Thank you! That is actually funny, you should see my kitchen – no benchspace, electric stove (2 burners only), ancient stove
Lorraine @NotQuiteNigella: Woah, did you like it when you tried it or was it a bit too strong and gamey? That is funny, death my lamb!
Howard: Wow you do spit roast? Great!
helen: I always wanted to live in town! Though now I am glad of my farm upbringing
Thank you!
FFichiban: Thanks! Glad it made you even hungrier!
Yas: Thank you! I find the lamb fat to sometime be just too much, but this leg was really tasty.