Lamb is a delicious and versatile meat – and one that some people love and others shy away from. If lamb hasn’t been one of your go to meats, we hope to change that! The lambs on the farm are raised on pasture, and the particular breeds we have (Dorper and Katahdin) grow hair as opposed to wool, so they don’t develop lanolin, which can give the meat that “mutton taste”.
There are many ways to roast lamb, so the most important thing is to ensure you pull it out of the oven at the right temperature, to make sure it’s exactly how you love it. Also, remember to let it rest! Roasts will continue to cook and the internal temperature will rise about 5 degrees once you pull it out of the oven.
Cooking times are only guidelines. After an hour, you should check it frequently, and pull it out when it’s reached your desired internal temperature.
- Rare: 125°F (about 15 minutes per pound)
- Medium-Rare: 130°F to 135°F (about 20 minutes per pound)
- Medium: 135°F to 140°F (about 25 minutes per pound)
Order some lamb this week – and give one of the recipes below a try. We trust you’ll love it. These recipes are for bone in legs, but when boneless legs are rolled and tied, they cook very similarly to bone in, and the same internal temperatures will apply.
Easy Roast Lamb – the Basics (from TheKitchn)
| 3-4lbs Leg of Lamb (Bone in) Salt, Pepper 3 tbsp Olive Oil | 6 cloves of Garlic 3 sprigs of Rosemary |
Rub the lamb with olive oil. Set the lamb in a rack inside a roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil and rub into the fat and meat.
Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.
Broil for 5 minutes. Turn on the broiler and position a rack below so that the top of the meat is a few inches from the broiler element. Broil the lamb for 5 minutes or until the top of the lamb leg looks seared and browned.
Flip the lamb over and broil the other side. Flip the lamb over and put back under the broiler for 5 minutes or until the other side is seared.
Top with garlic and rosemary. Take the lamb out of the oven. Turn off the broiler and set the oven temperature to 325°F. Reposition the oven rack to the middle of the oven. Mince the garlic and rosemary leaves. Flip the lamb leg over again and rub the top with the chopped garlic and rosemary.
Cover the lamb loosely with foil. Tent the pan loosely with foil to keep the garlic and rosemary from burning. Put the lamb back in the oven and cook at 325°F for one hour.
Remove the foil after an hour and take the temperature. If needed, continue cooking the lamb until done. Continue cooking the lamb (uncovered) until it reaches your preferred internal temperature. Check the temperature every 20 minutes until done.
Let the leg of lamb rest. Let the lamb rest for at least 15 minutes before carving.
Carve the lamb: Turn the lamb so the bone is parallel to the cutting board. Make perpendicular slices to the bone, angling straight down until your knife hits the bone. Then cut the lamb off the bone by slicing through the bottom of the slices with your knife parallel to the bone.
Enjoy! Try it with Merlot sauce (below) – the perfect accompaniment for lamb.
Merlot Sauce
| Lamb or Beef bones or trimmings 1 tbsp olive oil 2 shallots, sliced 4 cloves Garlic, chopped | ¾ cup Merlot wine 1 tbsp cracked black pepper 5 cups Chicken stock 1 sprig rosemary |
Heat oil in a heavy saucepan. Add bones and trimmings. Saute for 10 minutes until well browned. Add the shallots and garlic and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and drain off any fat. Return to heat, add peppercorns and Merlot wine. Reduce to ¼ cup (50 mL). Add chicken stock and rosemary. Bring to a boil then simmer skimming off any remaining fat. Reduce to 1 ½ cups, about 40 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Strain and pour over plated roast or any other cuts of lambs.
Roast Leg of Lamb With Anchovy, Garlic and Rosemary
| 4-pound bone-in Leg of lamb 4 large Garlic cloves, peeled and sliced lengthwise into thirds 20 anchovy fillets in oil, drained 1 bunch rosemary | 6 tablespoons butter, softened 1 ⅔ cups white wine juice of 1 lemon salt & pepper |
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. With a small, sharp knife, make 12 incisions 2
inches deep into the fleshy side of the leg. Insert a piece of garlic, half an anchovy and a small sprig of rosemary into each incision. Push them in with your little finger.
Cream the butter with the remaining anchovies and smear it all over the meat. Sprinkle the meat generously with black pepper, place in a roasting pan and pour the wine around it. Tuck in any leftover sprigs of rosemary and pour the lemon juice over the meat.
Roast in the oven for 15 minutes; lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees and roast for 1 hour more, basting from time to time with the juices. (Cook slightly longer, depending on how well done you like your meat.) Let rest in for at least 15 minutes before carving.
Meanwhile, taste the juices, adding salt as needed. (It should not need much because of the anchovies.) If the sauce is too thin, simmer it in a skillet to thicken.
Braised Leg of Lamb with Dried Prunes and Toasted Almonds
(clearly not roasting, but a delicious way to cook a leg of lamb nonetheless!)
| 2 tbsp lard, butter or oil 3-4 lbs. bone-in Leg of Lamb 1 large Onion, chopped 2 cloves Garlic, minced ½ cup raw almonds 2 cups broth (Chicken, Beef or Lamb) ¼ cup apple cider vinegar | 2 tbsp Dijon mustard 2 tbsp fresh sage, finely chopped 2 tbsp fresh thyme, finely chopped 2 tbsp garam masala salt & pepper ¾ cup dried prunes, cut in half 6 dried figs, cut in half |
Preheat the oven to 325°F
Melt the lard in a heavy skillet set over high heat. Sprinkle the leg of lamb generously with salt and pepper and place it in the hot pan; brown on all sides and remove the roast to a Dutch Oven.
Place the skillet back over the heat source, lower the heat to medium and add a little more fat to the pan if necessary then throw in the onion and garlic and cook, stirring often, until the onion becomes translucent. Add almonds and continue cooking for 3-5 minutes until fragrant.
Add this to the Dutch oven, along with the dried prunes and dried figs.
Whisk the broth, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, sage, thyme, garam masala, salt and pepper together and pour over the lamb. Cover and cook in the oven for 3 to 3½ hours or until the meat is tender and detaches easily from the bone when pulled with a fork.