A real holiday dish and decoration for any table is a leg of lamb baked in the oven! Prepare any of the recipes - everything is delicious!

Oven-baked leg of lamb is a traditional Easter dish in many European countries. This dish is an ideal alternative to baked chicken, turkey or duck. The leg of lamb looks majestic and very impressive on the dish, and the taste is legendary!

• Leg of lamb 3 kilograms 580 grams
• Salt to taste
• Ground black pepper to taste
• Fresh rosemary 2–3 branches
• Garlic 1 head (large)
• Brown sugar 60 grams
• Pure distilled water 200 milliliters

For this dish you will need a leg of young lamb and to begin with, rinse it under running water, dry it with paper kitchen towels and place it on a cutting board.

Take a sharp knife and remove the tailbone, which you can see along the top of your leg.

Next, cut off the pelvic bones, there are not very many of them, but during chopping, fragments may have remained on the surface of the meat, which should also be removed. Process this part of the leg slowly, making cuts - notches right near the base of the bone, so as not to lose precious pieces of meat.

Now you have a rather difficult job ahead of you, make a small cut along the small bone, and carefully trimming it on all sides, cut off the meat from it. You will see 2 bones connected to each other by cartilage, small and large. Trim the edges of the cartilage and remove the small bone.

Now you should be able to see the cartilaginous thicket of the large bone, around which there are quite appetizing, but unnecessary pieces of meat. To make the leg look more aesthetically pleasing during baking, cut these pieces under the base of the cartilaginous cup on the bone. Also remove the pocket of fat, it contains too much iron, which is very difficult for the human stomach to digest. Meat trimmings are suitable for preparing any other equally tasty dish, for example, for stewed lamb with beans, and fat in small quantities can be used to prepare pilaf.

Remove the top layer of rough skin. Do this carefully so that a small layer of fat remains on the surface of the leg; it will protect the leg from dryness during baking and give the dish a beautiful, golden brown crust. Now you have a perfectly processed leg on a large bone, during baking the meat will shrink and the bone will be exposed, so proceed as you wish, if this suits you, you can prepare the lamb for baking, but in my case, I just chopped it off with a kitchen hatchet.

To make a leg of lamb flavorful you will need very simple ingredients. The main thing is that you are mixing two pretty strong ingredients, fresh spicy rosemary and piquant strong aromatic garlic. Peel the head of garlic. Rinse the rosemary branches under running water and shake over the sink to remove excess liquid. Then remove the leaves from the branches, place the garlic on a cutting board, and cut each clove lengthwise into layers up to 5 millimeters thick. Leave the ingredients on a cutting board and preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius or 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Now using a thin, sharp and long knife, make cuts on the surface of the leg of lamb at an angle towards the flesh. The cracks should be deep, but not large in volume, so that only herbs and spices can fit into them. Don’t be overzealous and don’t make a sieve out of the leg, 5-6 cuts from one barrel, from another, from the third.

Then stuff the cracks with rosemary and garlic, making sure that the filling is placed quite deep and does not extend beyond the meat to avoid burning these ingredients during baking.

Place the prepared leg in a glass heat-resistant baking dish, or you can do this immediately during stuffing, as you wish. Rub it with salt and ground black pepper to taste.

To make the lamb look very nice, with a crispy crust, sprinkle the leg with brown sugar, spreading it over the surface of the lamb in a thin layer. Of course, dried herbs are not an option for lamb, but if you wish, you can sprinkle the leg with red ground pepper, fragrant ground pepper and paprika. These 3 spices will add color and flavor to the finished dish, but not the same aroma.

Pour 200 milliliters of pure distilled water into the mold with the foot. Make sure the oven is preheated to your desired temperature and place the pan in it. Bake the leg for 30 minutes. After this time, reduce the oven temperature to 160 degrees Celsius. Open the oven door and, using a colander, pour the juices over the leg that it released during the first 30 minutes of baking. Close the oven and bake the leg for another 15 to 20 minutes. Obviously the cooking time for a leg of lamb will vary depending on the weight of the lamb, mine took 1 hour 15 minutes to bake. But in order to know exactly when the meat is fully cooked, arm yourself with a cook’s thermometer and after 15 - 20 minutes of secondary baking, measure the temperature of the meat.

Simply insert the pointed end of the thermometer into the thickest part of the leg, but not too close to the bone. The ideal temperature is 160 degrees, but this time I wanted to make the meat more juicy and so I only brought it to 145 degrees. You can prepare it at your discretion, I have given a table of degrees below in the tips. Check the temperature every 5 - 7 minutes after 45 - 50 minutes of baking. When the lamb has reached the consistency and color you want, remove the pan from the oven using a kitchen towel. Using kitchen tongs, transfer the lamb to a large flat platter and let your masterpiece rest for 15 to 20 minutes. Then decorate the leg to your liking, for example with rosemary sprigs or any garnish and serve.

Recipe 2: Oven leg of lamb in foil

If you want to truly impress your loved ones and guests, then prepare a leg of lamb baked in the oven. This meat with fragrant garlic and carrots in foil turns out surprisingly tender, juicy, and soft. A unique marinade based on Provençal herbs, coriander, mint and other seasonings allows you to imbue lamb fibers with an exquisite and multifaceted aroma, in which a variety of notes organically overlap. At the same time, just before the end of baking, the foil is unrolled, which allows you to create a very appetizing and piquant crust. The dish turns out delicious! It will be a great option for a family dinner and will perfectly decorate the holiday table!

• leg of lamb – 1 pc.;
• dried mint – 1 tsp;
• carrots – 1 pc.;
• Provençal herbs – 1 tsp;
• garlic – 2 heads;
• olive oil – 4 tbsp. l.;
• spices for meat – 1 tsp;
• salt and ground black pepper - to taste.

A tasty, tender and surprisingly juicy leg of lamb baked in the oven is not difficult to prepare. However, be prepared for the fact that this will take you a lot of time, since to obtain truly tender meat, the product must be marinated for a long time and baked for a long time.

First, prepare all the ingredients you will need to cook the lamb.

Then you need to peel and wash the carrots. The garlic should be peeled. One of the heads, disassembled into separate slices, should be cut into circles. Carrots are cut into medium-sized cubes. The cloves from the second head of garlic should be passed through a special press or chopped finely with a knife and placed in a separate deep bowl. This part will be used to prepare the marinade.

Add dried mint and herbs de Provence to the garlic paste. The mixture is diluted with salt.

It is recommended to dilute the resulting composition with olive oil, but you will not need to take very much of it. Also, the mixture should be sprinkled with black pepper, which has just been ground. The composition will need to be thoroughly stirred, after which the marinade should infuse for at least 10 minutes.

Now it’s time to start the most important task - preparing the leg of lamb before baking in the oven. It should be cleared of films. Fat is also trimmed.

It is very important to prepare the lamb meat on both sides to avoid excess fat.

Place the leg of lamb on a baking sheet that has been previously covered with three layers of food foil.

The meat is thoroughly coated on each side with a fragrant marinade.

Then deep punctures must be made across the entire surface of the leg of lamb. We will stuff the meat through them. Pour a little marinade into the prepared cuts. Then you need to put a piece of carrot and garlic in them.

The workpiece is wrapped in food foil. Use 3 layers of material.

Now you need to wait at least 3 hours for the meat to marinate.

Then the leg of lamb in foil is baked in the oven for 40 minutes. The oven should be preheated to 250 degrees. Then the temperature is reduced to 190 degrees, and the meat must be left in the oven for another 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Place the finished meat on paper towels.

Then it needs to be cut and served.

A leg of lamb prepared according to this recipe, baked in the oven, turns out excellent.

Recipe 3: leg of lamb baked in the oven

Leg of lamb baked in foil is an excellent dish for a festive table; all men present will appreciate your efforts and will remember the taste of the leg of lamb you cooked more than once. So if your family is planning a holiday and you don’t know what to cook, cook a leg of young lamb. Your family will be delighted and you will surprise your friends with your skills.

• hind leg of a young lamb;
• 1 large tomato;
• 5 large cloves of garlic;
• 1 tbsp. a spoon with a heap of spices (mixed for lamb at the market);
• 1 teaspoon salt;
• 2 tbsp. spoons of olive oil.

Wash the leg of the young lamb, remove excess fat, make slits with a knife and insert garlic into them. If the garlic cloves are large, cut them in half. Rub your leg with salt.

Grate the tomato on a coarse grater and discard the skin.

The result was a tomato mass.

Add 1 tbsp to it. spoon of spices.

Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and mix everything well.

Coat the leg of lamb with this mixture on all sides.

Take the foil, shiny side inward, and wrap the leg of lamb.

So that the liquid that will form during frying does not leak out. You will need 3 strips of foil a little longer than a leg.

Place in the refrigerator overnight.

Take the foil-wrapped leg of lamb out of the refrigerator and place it on a baking sheet in the oven to bake. According to the oven menu, the leg of lamb is baked at 230 degrees for 2 hours 44 minutes. Half an hour before it’s ready, open the foil and let the leg brown. An hour before it’s ready, put the potatoes in foil (we’ll make a trough out of the foil). Pour the resulting juice over the leg and potatoes a couple of times. After the baking period has expired, the oven will turn off itself and let you know. We take out the delicious leg of lamb baked in foil from the oven.

This is what happened. The lamb meat is tender, juicy, with the aroma of spices, well baked, falling off the bone. We remove the large bone up to the knee joint so as not to spoil the appearance, place it on a dish, decorate and serve the leg of lamb with potatoes baked in foil to the table.

Recipe 4: how to cook leg of lamb in the oven

We are preparing a delicious leg of lamb baked in foil. You will find marinating lamb and all other steps for preparing this meat dish in our simple recipe.

• Leg of lamb (young lamb or leg of lamb) - 1.5-2 kg
• Onions - 1 pc.
• Olive oil – 50 ml
• Mustard - 1 teaspoon
• Dried herbs (rosemary, marjoram, thyme)
• “4 peppers” mixture

How to cook baked leg of lamb in the oven, in foil:

We marinate the lamb. First, we make many, many punctures in the leg of lamb - using a fork we pierce the meat on all sides.

Cut half the onion into half rings. Salt and pepper the meat, add dried herbs.

Add mustard, olive oil, onion.

Add the second half of the onion, grated. After this, thoroughly rub the leg of lamb with spices, seasonings and onions on all sides.

It should turn out like this.

Transfer the leg of lamb to the pan and cover with foil.

Place the lamb in the oven, preheated to 250 degrees, and place on the middle level. Reduce the temperature to 200 degrees and bake the leg of lamb in the oven for 50-70 minutes, depending on the size of the leg itself.

10 minutes before the lamb is ready, remove the foil to allow the meat to brown.

The dish is ready! The baked leg of lamb turned out juicy and cooked through. The aroma of spices emphasized the special taste of the leg of lamb. A low-fat and healthy meat dish for a balanced diet. Bon appetit!

Recipe 5: how to bake a leg of lamb in the oven

There are many recipes for cooking lamb, but it’s probably best to bake a leg of lamb according to Stalik’s recipe.

For filling:

• 300 g fat tail fat
• 2 heads garlic
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 teaspoon salt with a mountain

For rubbing:

• 1 head garlic
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt with a mountain
• 0.5 tsp rosemary
• 0.5 tsp thyme
• 50 g vegetable oil

For garnish:

• 1.5 kg potatoes
• 300 gr onion
• ground black pepper
• 2-3 pcs. red pepper, whole
• 2 tbsp. spoons vegetable oil

Remove membranes from the leg of lamb.

Prepare the filling. To do this, you need to cut tail fat into small cubes 5-7 mm in a separate bowl, if you don’t have fat on hand, then fresh lard, but at the moment fat tail fat.

Squeeze 2 heads of garlic into the same bowl, add rosemary, thyme and salt crushed in a mortar, mix everything well.

Make punctures in the leg with a thin knife, where possible, widen them with your finger and fill them with a mixture of fat tail fat and spices.

Next, squeeze the head of garlic into a cup, add salt and pepper, add crushed rosemary, thyme, vegetable oil, mix and rub the leg well on all sides. Cover with foil and leave to marinate for several hours, I usually leave it overnight.

For garnish, peel the potatoes and onions, cut into 2-4 pieces, add salt, pepper, add oil, mix well and carefully add 2-3 red peppers, only whole, without cracks), otherwise the dish may be too spicy.

Place the pickled leg in a large baking sleeve on a baking sheet, sprinkle potatoes and onions around it, and tie on both sides. Make 2-4 punctures in the sleeve with a toothpick to prevent it from tearing during baking.

Bake in the oven at 200° for 2 hours until done.

The taste and smell of this dish is simply impossible to describe, the meat turned out very tender and juicy, you just have to try it!

Recipe 6, step by step: leg of lamb in the oven in the sleeve

The full name of the recipe is Leg of Lamb, baked in a sleeve, with mint red wine sauce and three root vegetable puree.

• leg of lamb 2500 g
• garlic 5 teeth
• olive oil 100 ml
• 70ml marinade
• Provençal herbs 1 tsp.
• dried mint 1 tsp.
• ground ginger 0.5 tsp.
• liquid honey 2 tbsp. l.
• salt and pepper 1 g
• butter 100 g
• onions 2 pcs
• dried mint 1 tbsp. l.
• dry red wine 300 ml
• white flour 2 tbsp. l.
• fresh thyme 6 pcs
• young potatoes 7 pcs
• carrots 1 piece
• daikon 1 piece

Preparing the leg of lamb. It is important to cut off the veins, membranes and fat; this will save the dish from the specific strong smell of lamb.

Cut the garlic cloves into narrow pieces.

Let's make the marinade. A sprig of thyme, dried mint, herbes de Provence, ginger and honey. Of course, olive oil as the base of the marinade, as well as salt and pepper.

We pierce the leg with a narrow knife and insert garlic into the cuts. Then coat with marinade on all sides.

Place the pickled leg immediately into the sleeve and leave it in a cool place overnight. We continue the next day. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees and bake for 30 minutes. Reduce temperature to 180 and bake for another hour. While the process is going on, prepare the side dish and sauce

We prepare a puree from three root vegetables - potatoes, carrots and this beautiful white root vegetable!)) Clean and wash.

At the same time we are working on the sauce. Butter...

Finely chopped onion...

Saute it until transparent.

Add dry red wine and evaporate it by one third - all the alcohol will go away. We will also add 1 tablespoon of dried mint - this will give us a fresh minty aroma of the sauce.

Making mashed potatoes. Add butter.

Fry carrots and daikon in butter. Add a pinch of Provençal herbs.

Add white and orange to the puree and mix thoroughly. We get an original puree of three components.

Open the sleeve, pour the resulting juice over the meat and fry until golden brown for another 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and after 15-20 minutes, when the leg has “rested,” you can cut the lamb.

Piping hot...

Recipe 7: juicy leg of lamb in the oven (step by step)

Leg of lamb baked in the oven is considered the signature dish of any holiday table. This is not surprising, because such meat is not only beautiful in appearance, but also very tasty. In order for such a dish to win the hearts of all guests, it is necessary to use only the fresh part of the carcass and follow the advice in its preparation. If everything is done correctly, the result will certainly please you. To bake lamb in the oven, you need a minimum of ingredients, time and skills. Even a child can cope with such a task.

The leg of lamb is the most tender part of the carcass, which has the minimum amount of fat. This type of meat contains all the necessary vitamins and microelements. It contains iodine, iron, magnesium, phosphorus and other substances. They are quickly and completely absorbed by the body. Thanks to the unique properties of meat, it is nutritious and satisfying, which cannot be said about other types.

• salt;
• 1 lemon;
• lamb – 2.5 kg;
• fresh rosemary (to taste);
• 3 cloves garlic;
• vegetable oil.

Wash the meat and remove all veins.

Combine spices with lemon juice and a small amount of vegetable oil. Place the meat in a large container and thoroughly coat it with the prepared mixture. Put peeled, chopped garlic there.

Marinate the meat for 12 hours in the refrigerator.

Place the leg of lamb into a pre-greased baking sheet. Bake in the oven at 160 0 C for an hour and a half. In order for the meat to acquire a golden brown crust, it should be kept in the oven for half an hour at 200 0 C.

It should be served warm with potatoes or rice.

Recipe 8: leg of lamb in the oven with vegetables (with photo)

Lamb is a very tasty, satisfying and healthy meat. After all, sheep are usually grazed high in the mountains, where the air is cleaner and the grass is lush. Therefore, sheep meat is much cleaner than pig meat. Many doctors often advise giving children lean lamb. It contains less cholesterol than commonly consumed pork and beef.

But despite this, lamb has a lot of fatty layers, and the meat itself has a specific smell. This is often the main reason for the low popularity of this type of meat. Many people don’t like it because of its characteristic smell, or they simply don’t know how to cook deliciously. And in order to enjoy the taste of the wonderful leg of lamb with vegetables, which we will now bake together in the oven, we will resort to a little trick. And this trick lies in a special set of spices, which emphasizes the aroma of meat and its tenderness. By using these specific spices in the right quantity, you can bring out the full beauty of lamb. And vegetables baked in lamb fat will add their own nuances of flavor and you will get a wonderful, complete second course with lamb. Let's cook this dish together!

• 1 leg of lamb;
• 0.5 kg of potatoes;
• 2 small carrots;
• 3 bell peppers;
• 4 medium onions;
• 2 small eggplants;
• 6 meaty tomatoes;
• 3 cloves of garlic;
• 2 tbsp. spices for lamb;
• 3 sprigs of parsley and basil;
• a little vegetable oil;
• salt to taste.

We wash the leg of lamb under running water and pat dry with a paper towel. Using a knife, remove the film and cut out the thick veins. Cut the meat from the thin bone. It will be convenient to take a leg of lamb for this part.

We make 15-20 pricks with a knife to make the meat more tender.

We prepare the ingredients for the mixture that we will rub on the leg of lamb. We will need a set of spices for lamb, 3 cloves of garlic and 50 ml of vegetable oil.

Now I would like to talk separately about the set of spices for cooking lamb. It can be found on the private market, or you can assemble it yourself. It contains in equal proportions: cumin, jambul, curry, cored, turmeric, paprika, regan, thyme, tomato and saffron. This set of spices will go perfectly with other dishes where lamb is used as the main ingredient.

In a separate small container, prepare the mixture for greasing the lamb.

Rub the lamb leg with this mixture. Some of the mixture will remain, and we will use it a little later.

We will bake the leg of lamb in a large, deep baking pan. In between times, set the oven to preheat to 200 degrees. Using a kitchen brush, grease the baking sheet with a thin layer of vegetable oil.

Place the leg of lamb and the meat cut from the bone.

We wash the eggplants, cut them into thick rings and sprinkle salt on top to remove all the bitter juice. Leave for 5-10 minutes.

Peel the potatoes, wash them and cut them into 2 or 4 parts. It will be tastier if all the vegetables are chopped coarsely.

Peel the carrots, wash them and cut them into slices.

Peel the onions, wash them and cut them into large half rings.

We wash the eggplants under running water and place them on a baking sheet with the lamb and vegetables. Add salt on top and pour in the remaining mixture with spices and vegetable oil.

Cover the baking sheet tightly with foil and place in the preheated oven for 50 minutes.

We make cuts on the tomatoes.

Place the tomatoes in boiling water for 5 minutes to make it easier to peel them.

Remove the tough skin.

We clean the bell pepper from the stalk and seeds. Wash and chop coarsely.

Remove the lamb and vegetables from the oven and remove the foil.

Place tomatoes and bell peppers on top. Place in the oven for another 5-7 minutes.

Check the vegetables for doneness by piercing them with a fork. If the vegetables are not baked well, put them in the oven without the lamb, so as not to dry out the meat. But usually this time is enough for the vegetables to bake. Place the leg of lamb on a serving platter. Mix the vegetables with the lamb juice on a baking sheet, then place them on a dish.

Wrap the bone in foil. It is convenient to grab your leg to cut meat.

The most delicious and tender leg of lamb is ready in the oven! Bon appetit!

A simple roast is the traditional way to cook a leg of lamb in the oven, but when it is slow-roasted with spicy garlic, parsley and bacon stuffing and served with a good sauce, it becomes a piece of haute cuisine.

This dish is delicious served hot, but can also be used cold for sandwiches and take-out lunches. Therefore, it is recommended to cook a large leg, which will be enough for several meals.

For the stuffed leg of lamb recipe you will need:

• 1.2 kg (half) boneless leg of lamb (or 1.5 kg with bone);
• a large handful of leaf parsley (coarsely chopped);
• 3 large cloves garlic (finely chopped);
• 70 grams of ham or bacon (diced);
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil;
• sea ​​salt and black pepper;
• 150 ml red wine (good quality);
• 100 ml broth;
• 2 teaspoons cold butter (cut into tiny pieces).

How to do it?

Stuffed leg of lamb baked in the oven is prepared like this. Preheat oven to 170°C. Remove the veins from the leg of lamb, remove the skin, and cut out a cavity in the piece. If you bought the meat with a bone, you will need to cut down the side of the bone to make room for the filling.

Spread the parsley and garlic evenly over the surface of the leg, and then generously brush with olive oil, including the cut-out cavity. Place chopped bacon in it. Season well with salt and pepper. Fold the edges of the cut piece and secure it carefully with kitchen string.

Place leg of lamb in a large baking pan, cover with foil and cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Then turn off the oven and leave the meat for 10 minutes. If you want the meat to be browned on top, add another 20 minutes of cooking without foil. In the same way, you can prepare a leg of lamb baked in the oven in a sleeve if you do not have foil.

Drain the fat and juices from the meat into a separate pan and place it on the stove over moderate heat. Carefully pour in the wine and boil until a thick viscous mass forms. Add broth, stir well and heat slowly until liquid is reduced by half. Strain through a fine sieve into a small saucepan, add the butter and stir gently until completely dissolved. Taste the sauce and adjust seasonings.

Slice the meat and serve immediately with chopped herbs and sauce.

Option with lemon juice

This Mediterranean Oven Roasted Leg of Lamb recipe offers a dish with unique flavors. For it you will need:

• 2 kg leg of lamb;
• 2 tablespoons olive oil;
• 1/2 cup lemon juice;
• 2 cloves garlic, minced;
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves;
• 3 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves;
• salt, seasonings.

For garnish:

• 1 large (300 grams) potato;
• 2 cloves garlic, minced;
• fresh thyme sprigs;
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice;
• olive oil - 1/4 cup.

Cooking lamb the Mediterranean way

How to cook leg of lamb in the oven according to this recipe? Preheat the oven to 160°C. Place leg of lamb in a large baking pan. Drizzle with oil and lemon juice. Sprinkle with garlic, oregano and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 4 hours and 30 minutes (up to 5 hours), until the meat is tender and falling off the bone.

Remove leg of lamb from oven. Cover tightly with foil. Leave to soak in the juice for 10 minutes.

Serve this dish with roasted lemon halves and potatoes. To make this side dish, heat a nonstick frying pan over moderate heat. Prepare the lemon halves, squeeze all the juice out of them, fry for 3 to 5 minutes until brown. Cool.

Place the potatoes in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cook for 15 minutes or until done. Drain and cool, cut into slices.

Using a large metal spoon, press potatoes through a fine sieve into a bowl. Stir in garlic, lemon juice and oil. Place the shredded leg of lamb on a plate, garnish with thyme sprigs and serve.

Greek recipe

This version of the dish also belongs to Mediterranean cuisine. To prepare this oven-baked leg of lamb recipe, you will need:

• 2 kg leg of lamb;
• 1 tablespoon olive oil;
• 2 teaspoons sea salt flakes;
• 4 cloves garlic, cut into pieces;
• 12 oregano sprigs;
• 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) chicken broth;
• 1/2 cup (125 ml) dry white wine;
• 2 red onions, quartered;
• 12 small potatoes, halved;
• 2 lemons, quartered;
• 1 cup (175 grams) olives.

Cooking leg of lamb in Greek style

This recipe with a photo of a leg of lamb in the oven is as follows. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the leg of lamb in a large baking pan. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt. Use a small sharp knife to cut small slits, about 2cm deep, across the entire surface of the meat. Place garlic slices and oregano sprigs in each hole.

Pour chicken stock and wine around meat and cover with foil. Cook in preheated oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven, remove the foil and baste the leg of lamb with the rendered juices. Place onions, potatoes, lemon and olives next to the meat. Cover with foil and roast for another hour.

You can also cook the leg of lamb in the oven in a sleeve by placing the meat and vegetables in it at this stage. Remove the foil and roast for another 30 minutes, or until the leg of lamb is golden brown and very tender. Remove from oven. Cover with foil and set aside to soak in the juices for 15 minutes.

Carve the meat and place on serving plates along with the onions, potatoes and olives, then top with the meat juices. Serve immediately.

Leg of lamb with garlic and rosemary

A juicy leg of lamb baked in the oven with fried vegetables turns out amazingly delicious. In this recipe, the meat is supplemented only with garlic and butter. All that is added to it is a little salt, black pepper and fresh chopped rosemary.

It will take you about an hour to get your leg of lamb roasted in the oven, which you should then let sit for a while. Let the juices flow back into the meat, don't let them run out completely. Cut the lamb into thin slices and serve on a platter along with the roasted root vegetables. Garnish with fresh rosemary and spoon some of the meat sauce onto the plate. You will need the following:

• 1 kg leg of lamb;
• 6 tablespoons of olive oil;
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped rosemary;
• sea ​​salt and black pepper;
• 1 kg of a mixture of root vegetables (potatoes, celery, turnips, etc.).

Cooking meat with rosemary

This recipe for leg of lamb in the oven goes like this. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees. Rub 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a piece of meat, cover it on top with 2 tablespoons of chopped rosemary.

Wash and dry the vegetables, cutting off the top and bottom. Chop into small pieces and transfer to a bowl. Add 3 tablespoons olive oil to the vegetables along with the remaining 2 tablespoons chopped rosemary. Season with salt and pepper and combine all ingredients. Transfer the prepared vegetables to a large baking sheet and arrange in a single layer.

In a large frying pan, heat a tablespoon of olive oil over high heat. Carefully place the leg of lamb in it and fry for 30 seconds on all sides. A crust should form on the meat. Then transfer it to the baking sheet with the vegetables and place in the oven. Roast the leg of lamb in the oven for 1 hour. The photo attached to the article shows what the finished dish should look like.

Check the readiness of not only meat, but also vegetables by sticking a knife into them. All components must be soft. When ready, remove pan from oven and cover with aluminum foil. Let the meat sit for 10-12 minutes before slicing. Serve immediately along with root vegetables.

Italian version

In this oven-roasted leg of lamb recipe, basil and feta cheese help bring out the flavor and aroma of the lamb. If time permits, it is advisable to marinate the meat overnight in the refrigerator. For this dish you will need the following:

• 2-2.5 kilograms of lamb leg;
• ½ glass of red wine;
• ¼ cup olive oil;
• 1 teaspoon dried basil or 2 tablespoons fresh;
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh garlic;
• 150 grams feta cheese, chopped;
• ¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes;
• ¼ cup chopped olives;
• 1 tablespoon capers, without brine;
• a few fresh basil or oregano leaves, chopped.

How to cook meat according to the Italian recipe

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Line the bottom of a baking tray with foil or baking paper. Remove meat from refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking. Check its weight to calculate cooking time and place it on a baking sheet.

Using a sharp knife, make 8-10 small slits across the top of the leg of lamb. Mix wine, oil, basil and garlic and apply half the mixture over the entire surface of the meat.

Roast the leg of lamb in the preheated oven, calculating the time for 30 minutes per 500 grams, brushing the remaining marinade regularly over the piece during the first hour of cooking. During the last 30 minutes, mix the remaining ingredients of the recipe and apply them to the meat. When the leg of lamb is cooked, remove the pan from the oven and let rest for 20 minutes before slicing. Serve with pasta and seasonal vegetables.

Option with herbs

A leg of lamb baked in the oven in foil, covered with a thick crust of breadcrumbs and herbs, will decorate any holiday table. Serve it with crispy golden potatoes, carrots and peas or a flavorful sauce. If you wish, you can make a stuffed leg of lamb by adding a mixture of breadcrumbs as a filling. For this recipe you will need:

• 2 kg leg of lamb;
• 300 grams of white bread, without crusts;
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced;
• 1 small bunch of parsley;
• a sprig of mint, rosemary and thyme;
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard;
• ½ tablespoon each of teaspoon salt and ground black pepper;
• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil;
• 2 cups of any chopped herbs;
• 1 tablespoon flour;
• 300 ml dry white (or rose) wine.

Cooking spicy leg of lamb in the oven in foil

Preheat oven to 190°C. Weigh the meat and calculate the roasting time, calculating 25 minutes for every 500 grams plus an additional 25 minutes. Place the leg of lamb in a baking tray and place in the oven to cook for an hour.

Meanwhile, place the bread and garlic in a food processor. Remove the stems from the parsley and add to the above mixture. Tear the leaves from the sprigs of mint, rosemary and thyme and place in the bowl of a food processor along with the mustard. Beat all the ingredients until the bread is completely crumbled, add seasonings and enough butter so that the crumbs hold together well.

Remove the leg of lamb from the oven and spread the bread mixture evenly over the entire piece. Return the meat to the oven and continue cooking for the remaining time.

Remove the leg from the oven and place on a serving plate, then cover tightly with a sheet of foil. Leave for 15-20 minutes before slicing.

If you don't have foil, you can make this leg of lamb recipe in the oven in a sleeve. This will not affect the taste of the dish.

Meanwhile, make the sauce. Pour excess fat from the pan into the pan and place on the stove. Add flour and stir for a few seconds with a wooden spoon. Gradually add the wine and cook until the mixture turns into a smooth sauce, then strain through a sieve.

To make an additional simple mint sauce, finely chop a large handful of mint leaves and mix with 2 tablespoons honey and 4 tablespoons white wine vinegar.

Moroccan version

This is a classic roasted leg of lamb recipe from Morocco that is very popular in Europe. This meat is often eaten with couscous and a traditional Moroccan dish of vegetables in a spiced broth. The principle of preparing this dish is very simple. You make a deliciously aromatic seasoning mixture and rub it on the meat, then bake it to your liking.

When spices are stored whole, they taste much better because their flavor is preserved. To make freshly ground spices, you can use a mortar and pestle (or food processor). Coriander seeds, cumin seeds and ground sweet pepper are most ideal for lamb.

Only after the spices have been crushed, the garlic pureed, and the butter softened at room temperature should you start mixing them. This is the only way you will get a homogeneous, aromatic paste. You can apply it to the meat either with a teaspoon or with your fingers.

It is advisable to cook the leg of lamb without the bone, because otherwise it will be difficult to cut. It is also recommended to definitely use onions, because they add juiciness to the dish.

For this Arabic dish you will need the following:

• 2 kg leg of lamb, room temperature;
• 100 grams of butter, at room temperature;
• 1 teaspoon olive oil + a little for greasing;
• 3 cloves garlic, minced;
• 2 full teaspoons of whole cumin;
• 2 teaspoons of whole coriander seeds;
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika;
• 2 large onions, cut into rings;
• salt.

Cooking an oriental dish

Preheat oven to 220°C oven. Trim all the fat from the leg of lamb (not deeply, do not damage the layer of meat, otherwise the dish will not be as juicy).

Grind the cumin seeds with a mortar, pestle or food processor into a powder, reserving a few whole for serving. Grind the coriander in the same way.

Mix ground coriander and cumin, paprika, garlic, olive oil and butter to make a smooth paste. Pour some olive oil into a deep pan. Place the leg of lamb in it, rubbing it well with the butter-spicy mixture. To do this, spread the paste over the surface of the meat with a spoon and rub in with your hands. Place a few onion rings on top and arrange the rest on the sides. Bake for 10 minutes in an oven preheated to 220°C. Reduce temperature to 180°C. Bake further at the rate of 15 minutes for every 500 grams of meat.

Remove the finished dish from the oven. Cover with a sheet of foil and a tea towel. Let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes. Slice and serve, sprinkled with coarse salt and freshly ground cumin, accompanied by cooked vegetables, couscous, salad or any other elaborate side dish.

In the oven Bake the leg of lamb for 2 hours at a temperature of 170 degrees and 20 minutes at a temperature of 220 degrees.

How to bake a leg of lamb in the oven

Products
Leg of lamb - 2.5 kilograms
Honey - 1 tablespoon
Garlic - 5 cloves
Coarse black pepper - half a teaspoon
Ground red pepper - half a teaspoon
Vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons
Salt - 2 tablespoons
Spicy mustard - 1 tablespoon

Food preparation
1. Wash the leg of lamb thoroughly under running water and dry with a paper towel.
2. Place your foot on a cutting board. If there is too much fat, cut off with a knife, leaving an even but thin layer.
3. Peel 5 cloves of garlic from dry flakes and cut in half lengthwise.
4. Stuff the leg of lamb with lard and garlic. To do this, use the end of the knife to make 20 punctures, 3 centimeters deep, evenly on top, bottom, and sides of the leg of lamb. Insert 10 halves of garlic cloves and 10 small pieces of lamb fat, cut off when preparing the leg, into the punctures.
5. In a bowl, put 1 tablespoon of honey, 1 tablespoon of hot mustard, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons of coarse salt, half a teaspoon of coarsely ground black pepper, half a teaspoon of ground red pepper. Mix everything thoroughly.
6. Using your fingertips, scoop up a mixture of seasonings, vegetable oil, salt and rub thoroughly into the meat.
7. Place the leg of lamb in a plastic bag and put it in the refrigerator for 12 hours.

Baking in the oven
1. Remove the leg of lamb from the plastic bag, wrap it in parchment and place it on a baking sheet of a suitable size.
2. Set the oven heating mode to 170 degrees. After 10 minutes, place the tray with the leg of lamb in the oven on the middle rack.
3. Bake the leg of lamb for 2 hours.
4. Remove the pan with the leg of lamb from the oven (use oven mitts) and place on a wooden cutting board.
5. Free the top of the leg of lamb from the parchment - you can simply cut off the parchment with scissors (below, on the baking sheet, let it remain).
6. Set the heating mode to 220 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes with the baking tray in the middle position.
7. Turn off the oven, after 10 minutes, remove the cooked leg of lamb and place on a plate.

Fkusnofacts

Mutton goes well with dill, parsley, cilantro, bay leaf.

Average cost of products in Moscow in December 2017 for cooking baked leg of lamb - 1300 rubles.

- Calorie content baked leg of lamb meat about 300 kcal/100 grams.

The leg of lamb can be baked simultaneously with vegetables: tomatoes, bell peppers, onions. They should be wrapped in foil and baked on a baking sheet next to the leg of lamb for 30 minutes.

- Keep baked lamb for 48 hours in the refrigerator.

- Choosing a leg of lamb stands, paying attention to the color of the meat and fat - the lighter, the younger the animal, which means the softer and more tender the finished dish will be.

A dish such as baked leg of lamb is prepared for a significant family dinner or for a large company gathered for a festive occasion. And the one who prepares it wants to achieve an excellent result, otherwise the feast will be ruined. We will tell you how to bake a leg of lamb so that it becomes juicy and aromatic in the oven, in foil or in a sleeve.

Cooking features

Lamb is a specific meat, most often consumed in eastern countries. Baked lamb meat on the bone is a hearty, flavorful and healthy dish. It contains a balance of fats and proteins and contains many microelements. Lamb contains a rare but necessary protein compound for muscle development, good hair and skin condition - argenine, which is absent in poultry meat.

Having a special aroma, it is quite high in calories, but the least amount of fat is contained in the legs (hams) of the carcass, especially if the lamb is young. The taste of the future baked dish directly depends on the choice and quality of this part of the carcass. Several recommendations will help you choose the right meat.

• You can judge the freshness of meat by the color of the fatty tissue. The light, milky shade of the fat indicates good quality of the meat, while the color of the fat is yellow indicates that the meat is not fresh. In addition, yellow fat is characteristic of older animals.
• A rich red color, almost burgundy or brown, also indicates a long-lived animal; such meat will be stringy and tough. It is better to choose a leg with muscle fibers in light pink tones, it is more delicate.
• A ham that is completely devoid of a fat layer will be dry when finished, and if it is too fatty, it will have a characteristic odor, since it is lamb fat that gives the meat a specific aroma that many people don’t like.

Having purchased a high-quality lamb ham for cooking, you should take care of its proper cutting and some features of its preparation.

• First, you need to rinse your leg with hot water - this will make it easier to wash away the fat and debris stuck to the muscle tissue.
• If the ham contains part of the pelvic bones, then it is better to ask the butcher to remove the leg from them or to do it yourself with a meat hatchet.
• Visible veins, excess fat and films should be removed.
• All the meat juices in the lamb will be retained to a greater extent when the leg is cooked in the oven - in foil or in a sleeve - than on a grill or grill. To make it juicy, you should not make a lot of punctures and cuts in the meat - this way the precious juice will be lost faster.

• The marinade and spices will add flavor to the ham. The taste of lamb only benefits and is fully revealed in combination with many types of herbs, especially fresh or dry rosemary.
• The marinating process is mandatory for preparing leg of lamb. It is better that it lasts 10–12 hours; it is recommended to marinate the leg overnight, or even for a day. Express marinating lasts 2–3 hours with punctures, since the meat marinates faster.
• Place the marinated ham with spices only in a heated oven.

The best meat is obtained if you leave it to simmer in the oven for a long time at a low temperature.

Baking time

Bake the ham in the oven for the first 20–25 minutes at a high temperature of 220–230 degrees. To ensure even cooking on each side, turn the leg over after 10-12 minutes of baking at this high temperature. If the size of the ham allows you to place it in a frying pan, you can brown the leg there and seal the meat juice inside by frying it in hot oil on both sides for 10–12 minutes. Then the main cooking time for the lamb takes place in the oven, at a low temperature – 170–180 degrees.

While preparing a baked leg of lamb, the mind-blowing aromas of the cook and his impatient entourage raise the question of how long a leg of lamb should be baked. After frying in a frying pan or at high temperature in the oven, the baking time of the lamb shank will directly depend on its size. Thus, it is generally accepted that each kilogram of lamb meat takes 35–40 minutes to bake. Accordingly, a 3-4 kg leg should be in the oven at low temperature for 2-2.5 hours.

However, there are still some nuances that should be taken into account in order for the ham to cook well.

• The ham of an older animal usually takes longer to cook, but may still remain tough.
• A marinated leg also takes a little longer to cook than a leg that has been rubbed or infused with spices.
• To ensure even baking, the leg should be covered (without sealing) with foil 50–55 minutes after it is in the oven.
• Lovers of tender, juicy meat should reduce the cooking time for leg of lamb in the oven to 20 minutes per kilogram of ham.
• Typically, a ham is considered ready if, when cut into it, clear juice comes out in the thickest part.
• 20–25 minutes before readiness, open the leg in the sleeve or in foil so that the top meat is browned.

When the ham is cooked, you should keep it in the switched off oven for about 30 minutes, or better yet an hour, so the simmering process will continue. And after placing the hot leg on a dish, you should cover it with foil for 15–20 minutes and only then start slicing and eating.

How to marinate it?

The marinating process is an important step in cooking leg of lamb. You need to choose your herbs, spices and marinade as carefully as you choose the ham itself. The younger the meat of the animal, the simpler the spices used should be. It is enough to rub the leg of a young lamb up to one and a half years old with a mixture of salt, vegetable oil, ground black pepper and several spices - rosemary, cumin (cumin), thyme.

In addition, it is necessary to calculate the amount of marinade so that it is enough for the entire volume of the baked leg. Usually 200–250 ml of liquid marinade is enough for one kilogram of meat. It is recommended to prepare the marinade in excess, as it tends to drain from the leg. It is better to coat the upper part of the leg with the marinade flowing into the container several times during marinating or turn it over.

The marinade recipe can be very diverse - from simple ingredients that are on hand to exotic ones, such as kiwi or pineapple juice. Garlic (chopped or grated), vegetable oil, salt, and ground black pepper are often used in it. Fresh or dried herbs - cilantro, rosemary, mint, basil, mustard and ginger are especially combined with the specific aroma of lamb, giving the dish a bright taste.

You can reduce the marinating time of meat if you make a few deep cuts in it and put in a clove of garlic with spices and marinade.

Several examples of popular marinades should be given. The proportions are calculated for 1 kg of lamb shank.

• With lemon juice and wine. Mix 250 ml of olive oil with the juice of a large lemon and 200 ml of dry white wine, grind bay leaves, fresh parsley, and 12 pieces of black peppercorns into the mixture. Rub the meat well and leave for about a day.
• With yogurt or kefir. Low-fat yogurt or kefir - 1 cup, chop mint (2-3 sprigs), 6 cloves of garlic, add 1-2 tbsp paprika. spoons, ground red and black pepper, salt.
• Classic with vinegar. Cut 2 onions into half rings, chop 3 cloves of garlic, add 100 ml of 6% table vinegar, 100 ml of vegetable oil, 2 sprigs of rosemary and thyme.
• Tomato with greens. Cut 3-4 tomatoes into halves, grate so that the skin remains in your hand, chop half a bunch of cilantro and parsley, a little rosemary and thyme, 1 onion, mix everything with 150 ml of olive oil.
• Mustard-honey marinade will make the meat very tender, with a unique honey aroma. 1 tbsp. spoons of honey and ready-made mustard, juice of 1 lemon, 6 pcs. chopped or grated garlic cloves, a mixture of peppers, salt - 0.5 tbsp. spoon, dry herbs (ready-made Provençal mixture or thyme + rosemary + suneli hops).

Recipes

For cooks who do not have much experience in cooking leg of lamb, we can recommend baking it in foil or in a sleeve. Having stuffed your hand, the next dish you can cook is a leg of lamb in dough, simmered with vegetables or in wine. We invite you to consider simple recipes step by step.

To bake a lamb ham weighing up to 2.5 kg in foil you will need:

• garlic – one and a half heads or 10–12 cloves;
• olive oil – 6 tbsp. spoon;
• mixture of herbs (rosemary and thyme) or herbs de Provence - 1 tbsp. spoon, chop 4–5 bay leaves;
• ground black pepper;
• 1 fresh chili pepper, seeded
• salt – 1 tbsp. spoon.

Prepare the dish following the following steps.

1. Combine crushed and chopped garlic cloves with herbs, oil, salt and hot spices.
2. Place a clean ham, dried with paper napkins, on foil folded in 2 layers (2 meters folded in half), rub it with the mixture, carefully turning it over on all sides.
3. Wrap in foil, wrap on top again with a two-layer sheet of foil of the same size. Make sure that the foil does not tear anywhere.
4. Place to marinate in a cool place for 3–12 hours. If the meat is to be marinated for no more than five hours, several cuts should be made in the ham and stuffed with marinade.
5. Without unwrapping, place in a hot oven at 200–210 degrees.
6. Keep for about half an hour, then reduce the temperature to 180 degrees and simmer for 1.5–2 hours.
7. Before ready, remove the top of the leg from the foil to allow it to brown for 15–20 minutes.
8. Cover with foil and leave in the turned off oven for another quarter of an hour.

In the same recipe, you can use a mustard-honey version of the marinade or any other. The main thing is to prepare the amount of marinade for the weight of the existing ham.

Lamb shank stewed in wine on a baking sheet with potatoes. The aromas of this dish create incredible comfort in the home, and the taste and tenderness will exceed all expectations. So, for a delicious gala dinner you will need:

• lamb ham weighing 2–25, kg;
• potatoes – 1.2–1.5 kg;
• vegetable oil – 3 tbsp. spoons;
• red wine – 8 tbsp. spoon;
• herbal seasoning, salt, pepper.
• garlic - 8 cloves.

The following steps should be followed during cooking.

1. The washed and clean leg should be dried, several deep cuts should be made, stuffed with a mixture of garlic, pepper and salt, rub the meat surface with it, and sprinkle with rosemary.
2. Lightly pour vegetable oil on top of the leg and remove to soak in spices for several hours.
3. Grease the baking sheet with oil, place the ham in it, place in the oven (210 degrees) to bake for 30 minutes, pouring 1-2 tablespoons of wine and meat juice from time to time.
4. During this half hour you need to prepare the potatoes. Young, washed potatoes, not peeled (it is advisable to peel potatoes with thick skins), cut lengthwise into long, large slices.
5. Salt, pepper, lightly pour oil over the potatoes and place on a baking sheet with the meat. After 20 minutes, reduce the temperature to 180 degrees, cover the baking sheet with foil, bake for another 1.5 hours, periodically pouring wine and your own juice over the meat.

Leg of lamb baked in a sleeve with vegetables. In this rich and juicy dish, any vegetables are very tasty, because they are saturated with meat juice themselves and give their aromas to the meat. It is good to cook it in the autumn-winter period, when there is no shortage of seasonal vegetables. You will need the following products:

• 1–2 culinary sleeves for baking;
• lamb ham 1.5–2 kg;
• a mixture of any vegetables (tomatoes, onions, sweet peppers, broccoli, cauliflower or white cabbage, pumpkin, eggplant, zucchini) – 1.5 kg;
• salt, spices and seasonings: ground herbs and seeds (cumin seeds, suneli hops or coriander and rosemary) – 1 handful;
• juice of 1 lemon or wine vinegar - 3 tbsp. spoons;
• garlic – 7 cloves.

The cooking process consists of the following steps.

1. Generously rub a small shank with a mixture of lemon juice (wine vinegar), salt, garlic gruel, pepper and herbs, and leave to soak for several hours under the film.
2. Prepare the vegetables - wash, peel, chop coarsely, place the shank in the sleeve first, place on a baking sheet, place the vegetables on the sides of the ham. If the sleeve breaks, you can wrap it in another bag on top of the torn one.
3. Bake vegetables and meat over high heat for 20 minutes.
4. Then simmer at a low temperature of 180 degrees for about 2 hours.
5. After removing the meat, let it stand for another 15 minutes.

Lamb shank stewed in dough will require certain skills in working with dough, but for the sake of the result it’s worth trying to cook this dish. Ingredients for the dough:

• flour – 800 g;
• water – 100 ml;
• 6 raw chicken egg whites;
• ground rosemary, salt.

Ingredients for a 2kg shank:

• garlic – 5 cloves;
• chopped bay leaf, suneli hops, parsley - 2 tbsp. spoons;
• bread crumbs or bread crumbs - 4-5 tbsp. spoon;
• salt, pepper - 1 tbsp. spoon;
• mustard for greasing - 3-4 s. spoon;
• 1 raw chicken egg.

Prepare according to the following steps.

1. Mix and coat the leg with breadcrumbs, herbs, butter, salt, and leave to soak for 2-3 hours.
2. In a hot frying pan, fry the shank on both sides for 12 minutes.
3. Beat the egg whites, knead with water, salt, rosemary.
4. Knead the dough well on a work surface, sprinkling with flour, without making it too stiff.
5. Place the dough in a cool place for 1 hour.
6. After an hour, roll out the dough not too thin - about 1 cm.
7. Place the leg, coated with mustard, on the rolled out dough; place the remaining toasted garlic-crumb mixture from the frying pan on top of it.
8. Pinch the edges of the dough, leaving a little space inside, and brush the surface of the dough with beaten egg.
9. Place the dough-covered shank in the oven so that the pinched edge of the dough is at the top. In this case, the oven temperature should be 180 degrees.
10. Wait at least 3 hours for cooking. You should check the readiness of the leg using a toothpick - pierce it through the dough; if the meat juice is without blood, the meat is ready.

Be sure to let the dish sit for another 15 minutes after turning off the oven.

Leg of lamb stewed in beer. Another option for preparing a leg of lamb in the sleeve, in which the marinade plays an important role, giving the meat amazing tenderness. You will need:

• leg of lamb 1600–1800 grams;
• large onions - 2 pcs.;
• garlic – 6 cloves;
• crushed bay leaves - 1 teaspoon;
• fresh basil – 0.5 bunch;
• apple cider vinegar or lemon juice - 1 tbsp. spoon;
• beer – 250 ml;
• vegetable oil – 4 tbsp. spoons;
• salt pepper.

Let's look at the stages of preparation step by step.

1. Rinse the ham, cleared of films, and dry with a paper towel.
2. Make small cuts into which to insert halves of garlic cloves.
3. Rub the entire leg with oil and vinegar (lemon juice), salt, fresh and dried herbs and pepper, and leave to soak in the aromas for 1-2 hours.
4. Cut the onion into rings, place it in the sleeve, carefully place the leg on top of the onion, pinch the sleeve on one side and pour in the entire amount of beer.
5. First, the ham in beer should warm up well for 30 minutes in the oven at 210 degrees.
6. Then leave it to simmer at 180 degrees for another 2.5 hours. During this time, the shank in the sleeve should be turned over on a baking sheet 1-2 times.

For lovers of unusual combinations of meat flavor, fruity sourness and piquant spiciness, we can offer a recipe for baked leg of lamb with prunes in foil. It will require the following ingredients:

• lamb ham weighing 2–3 kg;
• 180 grams of prunes soaked in boiling water;
• 2 onions;
• 2 carrots;
• juice of 1 lemon;
• garlic – 4 cloves;
• mustard (spicy) – 5 tbsp. spoon;
• parsley – 6–7 sprigs;
• vegetable oil – 5 tbsp. spoon;
• salt pepper.

Make a marinade by combining vegetable oil, chopped herbs, mustard, garlic gruel, salt, pepper, lemon juice. Generously season the lamb shin with marinade, after cleaning it. At this stage, put your foot in a cool place for several hours.

Make cuts in the meat pulp, placing 2-3 parsley leaves and a few pieces of chopped prunes in them. Cover your leg with mustard. Cut the onions and carrots into thin discs and place on foil folded in 2-3 layers.

Place your foot on the vegetables and carefully wrap everything in foil, making several layers. Place the vegetables and drumsticks in a hot oven, after an hour, carefully unroll the top layer, pour over the released juice, seal and bake again for another 1-1.5 hours.

Do not rush to cut the finished dish; let the meat rest for 10–15 minutes in foil. This dish should be served with fresh vegetables and a side dish of rice or French fries.

To learn how to cook a leg of lamb in the oven juicy, tender and tasty, watch the following video.

2014-11-07

Leg of lamb baked in the oven sounds absolutely magical and festive. The approaching New Year, despite all the efforts of Mankind to push the joys of existence into the background, is still modestly but persistently reminding us of itself with the aroma of tangerines and subtle hints from beautiful ladies that “there is nothing to wear,” and at all! And Winter is coming! Well, in today's program we have a leg of lamb baked in the oven!

I would like to invite my dear readers today to plunge into the pleasant New Year’s chores - without haste and fuss, choose the “crown” dish for the festive table. My advice: “Make a roasted leg of lamb!” I promise that your loved ones will reconsider their attitude towards lamb after this! Leg of lamb - with the aroma of herbs, an appetizing crust, oozing pulp, baked in the oven to the desired condition, will become the decoration of the meal. If you prepare this dish, observing all the subtleties and technologies, then it will be the best New Year's gift for your loved ones and friends. This is worth a little tinkering!

Cooking a leg of lamb in the oven after some preliminary manipulations is not difficult and does not take much time (I mean “active” cooking). The main task, the solution of which determines the taste of the finished dish, is to choose this very leg of lamb. I'm giving you a reminder. To ensure that a leg of lamb baked in the oven does not disappoint you and your guests, you should pay attention to the following:

Leg of lamb baked in the oven: requirements, preparation, marinades, how to cook

• Meat from young animals is suitable for baking. The concept of “young” in this case is quite loose. It will not be possible to buy fresh lamb (lamb meat 2-6 months old) or young fattened lamb (6-8 months old) in the Northern Hemisphere in winter. You must be prepared for the fact that the acquired leg of lamb will have an “age” of one to two years. This type of lamb is light pink in color, with a characteristic but pleasant and not pungent odor, the fat is not meltable, hard, but slightly pliable, like wax, the bones are porous, reddish when cut, without sharp split edges.
• if you absolutely want dairy lamb, then look for New Zealand or Australian. My opinion is that it’s not worth it because it’s expensive.
• my preference is a leg of young lamb, weighing 2-2.5 kg with bone.
• the thin wax film covering the young leg of lamb is not removed.
• You should not cut off the thin layer of fat under this film - thanks to it, the leg of lamb will remain juicy during baking.
• with a leg of lamb weighing 3-3.5 kg with bone, it is still better to remove the film and fat (more mature meat has a pronounced smell of lamb, which repels many).
• By leg of lamb we mean the hind leg.

If you want to cook a boneless leg of lamb in the oven, you need to ask the butcher to remove the bones or do it yourself. The baked leg of lamb will be easier to cut into portions if the bones are removed first.

How to cook

To the question: “How to cook a leg of lamb baked in the oven?” — I usually give a laconic answer: “Delicious!” After all, this is the most important thing! There are many recipes for cooking leg of lamb. Most often it is prepared baked in the oven. Sometimes the meat is fried in a frying pan before baking so that a golden brown crust appears immediately; in other recipes, the prepared leg is placed directly in a heated oven.

1. If the lamb is too lean, then the leg can be topped with layers of thinly sliced ​​bacon, salted or smoked bacon. Sometimes pieces of lard or bacon are simply stuffed onto the leg. The leg of lamb baked in the oven is very good, stuffed with anchovies - at first the combination of flavors seems unusual, but over time you start to like it and even really like it! I once learned this technique from Nika Belotserkovskaya.
2. Baking temperature ranges from 100ºС to 200ºС. Baking time depends on the size of the piece and temperature. The greater the weight of the leg of lamb and the lower the baking temperature, the longer the time spent in the oven.
3. The leg of lamb is baked “by itself”, in foil, in a sleeve. At the same time, a side dish is sometimes baked (potatoes, for example, or onions, sweet peppers, the thickened part of fennel, tomatoes in the skin). Sometimes a sauce (from tomatoes, onions and peppers, for example) is prepared in the oven along with the leg.
4. The herbs that I think are most suitable for lamb are thyme, basil, savory, mint, sage. Experts also recommend rosemary, but I myself don’t really like its aroma. My favorites are savory and thyme. The “duet” of lamb and garlic is considered classic. In any case, you will have to choose “companions” for the leg of lamb, listening to your own preferences. Roman-style leg of lamb (breaded with white breadcrumbs), baked in the oven, is prepared with dill and parsley - it turns out incredibly fragrant, tender and fresh!

Marinades for lamb in the oven

1. White wine, curry, crushed garlic, mint, olive oil, salt.
2. Red wine, crushed garlic, basil and thyme or savory, olive oil, salt.
3. Balsamic vinegar, crushed garlic, mint, rosemary, olive oil, salt.
4. Natural yogurt, a few cardamom grains (don’t overdo it!), salt (I call this marinade “Bedouin”).

The basis of the above marinades is olive oil. The remaining ingredients are add-ons. Experiment, guided by the rule “Everything in moderation!”

Table of internal temperatures for different degrees of doneness of lamb baked in the oven

1. Very juicy, with a moist pink center and blood, only warm inside ≈ 53°C
2. Quite juicy, with a pinkish center ≈ 57°C
3. Quite juicy, pinkish inside ≈ 63°C
4. Slightly juicy, brownish-pink inside, fully baked, hot inside ≈ 67°C
5. Dryish, dirty pink-light, completely baked ≈ 71°C and above

In order to measure the internal temperature, you need to use a special meat thermometer or an electronic probe thermometer. The thermometer should be inserted into the thickest part of the piece, without touching the bone. In France and Italy, 1-3 degrees of readiness are most preferred, and in our “Palestines” - 4-5. If you are not sure what degree of doneness your guests prefer, it is better to ask them about it in advance.

Based on the above, the question: “How to cook a leg of lamb baked in the oven, you can also answer this way: “By following cooking technologies.”

Ingredients

In our family we usually call this dish “Roman-style baked leg of lamb.” My late father-in-law once read a recipe in an old Italian cookbook.

We will need:

• Leg of lamb 2.5 kg with bone.
• White bread crumbs 1 cup, about 250 ml.
• Olive oil 200 ml.
• Parsley 3 tablespoons.
• Dill greens 3 tablespoons.

Cutting a leg of lamb

Remove all bones from the leg of lamb except the tibia.

Prepare marinade No. 1 or No. 2, place the meat in the marinade for a day,

or better yet, two or three.

Forming, preparing for baking, baking

After this time, remove the leg from the marinade. Sew up the hole with thin strong threads.

Generously coat the leg of lamb with olive oil. With a generous hand, sprinkle the meat with white breadcrumbs (not small ones, made with our own hands),

mixed with chopped herbs, press the crackers firmly to the surface of the lamb, pour olive oil on top and press the crackers again. Place seam side down on a baking sheet greased with olive oil. It turns out to be such beauty.

Place the leg of lamb in an oven preheated to 200C. Those who like perfectly cooked meat - for 2-2.5 hours, those who prefer completely pink or pink meat - for 1-1.5 hours. If you have a thermometer, we follow the recommendation for the degree of readiness given above.

Serve and cut the finished oven-baked leg of lamb conveniently on a thick board. We put a papillot on the bone or simply wrap it in a napkin,

holding the bone, cut into neat slices. It was not possible to film this process - first I cut a baked leg of lamb, and the guests watched the process in fascination, and then the meat was removed at such a speed that I did not have time to come to my senses. It just “clicked” just before slicing. Sorry for the photo quality. This is how it turned out to be a Roman-style baked leg of lamb surrounded by cocotte bowls with julienne.

My reader Alena from Moscow sent a photo of a Roman-style leg of lamb she prepared. Looks absolutely great!

Leg of lamb in the oven with potatoes

Leg of lamb 2.5 kg

Bacon 350 grams

Potatoes 2.5 kg

Sprigs of savory, thyme

Olive oil 70 ml

We marinate the leg of lamb (marinade No. 1-No. 2) for a day, then fry it in a saucepan on all sides until a firm crust appears in 40-50 ml of olive oil. This will take approximately 20 minutes. Sprinkle the leg of lamb with chopped herbs. Cut the bacon into slices, cover the entire ham with them, and place it in a large baking dish.

Wash the potatoes, peel them, cut them into large slices, and blanch them in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Place the prepared potatoes around the leg of lamb, pour in the remaining olive oil, and cover the dish with a fireproof lid. First, the leg of lamb with potatoes is baked in the oven, preheated to 200ºC, for about an hour, then remove the lid. Next, the leg of lamb with potatoes is cooked in the oven for another 1 hour (for well-cooked meat) or until the desired degree of doneness). Leg of lamb in the oven with potatoes is usually served in the same container in which it was baked.

Leg of lamb in foil

Leg of lamb 2.5 kg

Bacon 250-300 grams

Leg of lamb in foil is a dish that will give you a minimum of hassle. Place the leg in marinade No. 1 or No. 2 for at least a day. Cut the bacon into fairly thin slices, cover the surface of the leg of lamb with bacon, and wrap the meat in two layers of foil. Place the leg of lamb in foil in an oven preheated to 200ºC. After half an hour, reduce the oven temperature to 180ºC. After 1.5 hours, cut the foil, unwrap the meat and bake for another 30 minutes without foil, basting with juice. Leg of lamb in foil is incredibly good with boiled rice.

Leg of lamb in sleeve

Leg of lamb in the sleeve is one of the options for a “lazy” hot dish for the holiday. After all, with this cooking technology, for some time there is no need to pour juice over the meat, and you can do something else in the kitchen.

Leg of lamb 2-2.5 kg with bone

Onion 2 large heads

Carrots 3 medium pieces

Garlic 5-6 cloves

Olive oil 50 ml

Marinate the leg in any of the marinades. Peel the onions and cut into 4 parts, peel and cut the carrots into thick bars, peel the garlic. Fry vegetables in olive oil. Place the leg of lamb in the sleeve, add the vegetables there, tie the sleeve and place it in a baking dish or baking sheet. Bake in an oven preheated to 200ºC for half an hour, reduce heat to 180ºC and bake for another hour and a half, cut the sleeve. Bake for another 30 minutes, constantly pouring the released juice. For lovers of pink meat, we focus on the temperature inside the piece! A leg of lamb baked in a sleeve gives free rein to your imagination - you can add blanched potatoes, fennel, cherry tomatoes, quince slices, raisins, and dried apricots to the sleeve.

My notes in the margins

• The marinade should be thoroughly rubbed into the pulp.
• During the marinating process, massage the meat so that the marinade is slightly absorbed into the meat.
• According to all the above recipes, you can cook lamb either with the bone or by removing the bones. A boneless leg of lamb can be stuffed with kidneys, mushrooms, cheese, herbs, raisins, prunes, dried apricots, ground nuts, and chestnut paste.
• Don't overdo it with spices. Good meat only requires emphasizing its merits, and it is impossible to “drown out” the shortcomings of bad meat with spices!
• It should be remembered that the success of a dish depends to a much greater extent on the quality of the starting products and adherence to cooking technologies than on a specific one. An excellent quality leg of lamb, which you simply bake with a minimum of suitable spices until golden brown and tender, will always be a success!

Baked leg of lamb is a dish that has a huge advantage in the pre-holiday bustle. It can be prepared in advance, at least a few days before serving. Before guests arrive, you just need to warm up the leg in the oven.

And for dessert today we have our favorite song from a past life - Abba - Happy New Year.