Growing up, it was not the traditional Easter ham my parents would have roasting in the oven, but instead, to some of my friend’s horror, leg of lamb. Yep, those sweet little babies. By the time I fully understood what I was eating, it was too late, I acquired the taste for it early on. To this day, the smell of lamb wafting through the house, brings me back to those happy times together as a family.
I have such fond memories of being a kid, watching my father dye Easter eggs, the way his mother taught him when he was young in their little Egyptian village – with simmering pots filled with the natural dye of beets, onion peels, turmeric, cabbage and bay leaves.
The first step is making the herb paste. Two to three savory herbs like sage, rosemary or thyme, blended in a food processor with flat leaf parsley, garlic and olive oil. It doesn’t need to be smooth.
I use this flavorful herb paste on whole roasted beef tenderloin as well. Just rub it very liberally all over, and let it sit overnight in the fridge before roasting.
Try to purchase a pasture-raised, grass-fed, locally sourced lamb if possible. Ask your butcher to remove the boone and butterfly it. One you unwrap your lamb, make sure to pat it dry. It makes the whole process easier.
For example this piece had a huge sort of lump one side, and as you can see below, so I butterflied it to create a somewhat even base.
Each one will be a little different. Just try to open it up so you can roll it. Generously sprinkle all sides with salt and pepper.
Spread the herb mixture on the inside, saving some for the outside too.
I usually remove some of this outer fat. This is a personal preference. Some people leave the fat on like I did here this time, as an experiment, and it is also good– but I prefer it with most of the fat trimmed off. The herb rub will keep it moist.
TIP: If you leave the fat on, score it with a sharp knife, so the rub gets into the cuts.
Wrap it up with kitchen twine, at one inch intervals.
Rub the outside with the remaining herb mix.
A few options for roasting : 1. you can roast the lamb on a bed of veggies (this will take longer to cook). 2. you could roast on a rack, set over a pan, to create an nice crust on the bottom as well. ( this cooks faster) 3. Some people also place the roast directly on their oven rack with a sheet pan below on a lower rack, to increase air flow on all sides of the roast. This does produce a really nice outcome, crispy crust on all sides, faster cooking times- but then you have to wash your oven rack. Which, if its like mine, can be a pain. So I just roast it over the bed of veggies. The lamb juices drip into the veggies and add great flavor.
Place the lamb over top, and in a hot oven for the first 15 minutes, then turn the heat down. Cook the lamb to medium rare- when it registers between 125-135 F.
Remove the lamb, let it rest 20 minutes on a cutting board, cover lightly with foil, and let the veggies continue cooking if they need it, turning the oven up a bit.
Serve with the mint caper sauce.
Herb Stuffed Leg of Lamb with Mint Gremolata
Herb-Crusted, Stuffed Leg of Lamb with flavorful Mint Gremolata, a step by step guide to an amazingly delicious holiday main course, baked over roasted vegetables.
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Cook Time: 85 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 40 mins
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: Roasted
- Cuisine: mediterranean
Ingredients
- 3.5 –5 lb leg of lamb -boneless, butterflied
- ½–¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- cracked pepper
Herb Filling and Crust
- 1 Cup fresh herbs (a mix of 2 or 3 of the following) thyme, sage, rosemary
- 1 Cup Italian parsley ( about a ½ a bunch) tender stems ok
- 10 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- ½ tsp salt
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
Mint Caper Gremolata ( served on the side)
- ¼ Cup olive oil
- ⅓ Cup finely chopped mint leaves
- ⅓ Cup finely chopped italian parsley
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 Tablespoon chopped capers
- 1 finely minced garlic clove
- 2 Tablespoons finely chopped onion or shallot
- salt if necessary
Roasting veggies
- 6–8 Cups variety of chopped root veggies – potatoes, carrots, celery, parsnips, sun chokes, leeks, onion, garlic cloves
- olive oil to coat
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- 425 F Oven
- Remove lamb from packaging and pat dry well. Trim away any unwanted fat. A little marbled fat is good, big chunks are not. It’s ok to also remove some or all of the outer layer of fat if that doesn’t appeal to you. Sprinkle all sides with ½-¾ teaspoon salt and pepper. Place outer side ( side with fat) down.
- Make the herb filling: Place all the herbs, garlic, salt and pepper and lemon zest in a food processor and pulse until it becomes like very coarse sand. Add oil, scraping down the sides if necessary, pulse until just combined -not too smooth or oily- this should feel like a dry course paste. Spread 2/3 of the paste on the inside of the lamb, saving the rest for the outer crust.
- Roll up the lamb, with the filling on the inside and tie at one inch intervals. You can either do individual strings and knots or wrap up with one very long string. It really doesn’t need to be perfect, just do the best you can. Rub the remaining filling paste all over the outside of the lamb. If leaving the outer layer of fat on, score the fat a little with a knife and rub the paste into the slits. (At this point you can refrigerate for 1-2 days if making ahead, wrapping tightly in plastic wrap. Make sure to bring to room temp at least one hour before roasting.) You have three roasting options. You can either 1. roast alone on a wire rack, over a pan ( fastest) 2. roast directly on your oven rack (messiest) with a sheet pan on the rack below to catch the drippings, or 3. prepare a bed of veggies for the lamb to rest on and roast over ( longest, but tasty).
- For the veggies, cut any combination of roasting vegetables into bite size pieces. Drizzle with 1 T olive oil, salt, pepper, a few springs of herbs, stir and lay the lamb roast over top.
- Place lamb in a hot 425 F oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 325F. ( If roasting directly on the oven rack, lower temp to 300 F. ) Continue roasting for another 50 mins to 1.5 hours… or until lamb registers at least 125 F ( rare) to 135F, remembering that the size of the lamb will determine how long it takes to cook. Once cooked to desired doneness, remove the lamb from the baking dish, set aside on a cutting board, loosely covered with foil, and let the veggies continue to cook, if needed, while the lamb rests 20 minutes.
- While the lamb is roasting make gremolata. Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl.
- Slice the lamb and serve with roasted veggies & mint gremolita.
Keywords: leg of lamb, lamb leg recipes, how to stuff and leg of lamb, stuffed leg of lamb, leg of lamb recipes, lamb recipe, easter lamb,
Fabulous! After trimming all the fat, we had a 4.7 lb. roast. I did not have fresh herbs, so the substitutions went like this:
3 tbsp. dried parsley, 1 tbsp. EACH of sage, rosemary, and thyme. Followed the recipe as written otherwise, and used wire rack in oven. A beautiful, medium-cooked delicious lamb roast!! My husbanc and son ate as much as they could and both said it was the best lamb they’d ever tasted. Thanks!
★★★★★
Yum. This is even better grilled on the BBQ. Don’t bother to roll and grill flat over med-high heat. So good…. Cook your veggies on the BBQ as well, root veggies are brilliant in hobo packs (sealed foil packets with veggies, herbs and a little butter and salt/pepper). Easy and gorgeous.
★★★★★
What oven temperature is best? How long to expect with veggies roasting?
I fixed the recipe, thanks!
Hello
Made this recipe a couple weeks ago and will make it again this weekend for Easter followed the recipe closely,it turned out very well I did butterfly the lamb leg out a bit more so that there was about twice as much surface area on the inside of the role for the herb mix and I raised the roast on two inverted stainless cups and roasted up crispy
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★★★★★
I made it and it turned out amazing. I had it for 2hrs longer just because my parents dont like to see red in the middle. Best lamb i ever had
★★★★
It is in our oven right now for Christmas Dinner! Thank you so much for this great recipe.
Awesome! Thanks Kathy!!!
Thanks so much for sharing, both this recipe and your memories, Sylvia. I love the dish and your beautiful photos and it’s always nice to get know the backstory as well. Thank you!
By crust you mean bread crumbs?
★★★★★
No…an herb crust.
Yum! Bought all of the ingredients for this tonight and cannot *WAIT* to cook it up 🙂
Thanks for the recipe. I made it for Easter dinner and it was a success! Thank you so much!
★★★★★
Im so happy you enjoyed!
Nice post , i hope everyone will like your post
Everything about this looks stunning and delicious! A meal like this is well worth the wait.
This is making my mouth water in anticipation of the lamb that we’ll be feasting on on Sunday. That gorgeous cutting board is making my mouth water a bit, too. Drool.