Summary: 425 for 20 min, 350 for 30 (boneless) to 45 (bone in) = rare
Prep time:
Cook time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Marinating time: 2 hours
Yield: Serves 8 to 10
Ingredients
Quick rub (rosemary, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, sugar, just enough olive oil to make a paste)
Marinade
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup white wine
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons of fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon of dried thyme
2 Tbsp of fresh chopped rosemary or 1 Tbsp of dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon of fresh ground pepper
Blend marinade ingredients in a blender, just a few pulses until well mixed.
Lamb Roast
One 6-pound leg of lamb, bone-in or boneless. (If boneless, the leg should be tied up with kitchen string by butcher.)
2 Preheat oven to 425°F. Arrange two racks in the oven - a middle rack to hold the lamb, and a lower rack to hold a roasting pan with which to catch the drippings. Note that this arrangement of racks and pans, with the roast sitting directly on the oven rack, will create a natural convection of heat in the oven, causing the roast to cook more quickly than if cooked the traditional method in a rack in a roasting pan.
3 Remove the lamb roast from its marinade bag (you may want to temporarily place lamb in another roasting pan, just to make it less messy to work with.) Pat dry the marinade off the lamb with paper towels. Generously salt and pepper all sides of the roast. Arrange the roast fattiest side up, so while the lamb is cooking the fat will melt into the meat. Place the roast directly on middle rack of the oven, with a roasting pan on a separate rack a rung lower, to catch the drippings. You may also want to put some water in the bottom roasting pan, so that the drippings fall into the water instead of burning in the hot pan and smoking up your kitchen.
4. Roast at 425°F for 20 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 350°F and roast an additional 30 minutes (for a 6 pound boneless roast) to 45 min - 1 hr (for a 6 pound bone-in roast).
5 While the roast is resting, use a metal spatula to scrape up the drippings in the roasting pan. Use the drippings to make a gravy, or use just the drippings themselves to serve with the lamb.
Prep time:
Cook time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Marinating time: 2 hours
Yield: Serves 8 to 10
Ingredients
Quick rub (rosemary, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, sugar, just enough olive oil to make a paste)
Marinade
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup white wine
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons of fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon of dried thyme
2 Tbsp of fresh chopped rosemary or 1 Tbsp of dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon of fresh ground pepper
Blend marinade ingredients in a blender, just a few pulses until well mixed.
Lamb Roast
One 6-pound leg of lamb, bone-in or boneless. (If boneless, the leg should be tied up with kitchen string by butcher.)
Marinade
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
1. If using rub, leave it on for several hours outside of the fridge, overnight or longer in the fridge. If marinating, marinate overnight, in the refrigerator. If refrigerating, bring to room temp.
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
1. If using rub, leave it on for several hours outside of the fridge, overnight or longer in the fridge. If marinating, marinate overnight, in the refrigerator. If refrigerating, bring to room temp.
2 Preheat oven to 425°F. Arrange two racks in the oven - a middle rack to hold the lamb, and a lower rack to hold a roasting pan with which to catch the drippings. Note that this arrangement of racks and pans, with the roast sitting directly on the oven rack, will create a natural convection of heat in the oven, causing the roast to cook more quickly than if cooked the traditional method in a rack in a roasting pan.
3 Remove the lamb roast from its marinade bag (you may want to temporarily place lamb in another roasting pan, just to make it less messy to work with.) Pat dry the marinade off the lamb with paper towels. Generously salt and pepper all sides of the roast. Arrange the roast fattiest side up, so while the lamb is cooking the fat will melt into the meat. Place the roast directly on middle rack of the oven, with a roasting pan on a separate rack a rung lower, to catch the drippings. You may also want to put some water in the bottom roasting pan, so that the drippings fall into the water instead of burning in the hot pan and smoking up your kitchen.
4. Roast at 425°F for 20 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 350°F and roast an additional 30 minutes (for a 6 pound boneless roast) to 45 min - 1 hr (for a 6 pound bone-in roast).
In general estimate 10-13 minutes per pound for total cooking time (for rare), including that first 20 minutes at high heat.
Note that the method of cooking directly on the oven rack will mimic a convection oven and the cooking time/oven temp needed will be less than you would need if you cooked the roast on a rack in a roasting pan. If you are cooking the roast directly in a roasting pan, rack or not, start the roast at 450°F and then reduce the heat to 325°F. Also, the shape of the roast will have an impact on the cooking time. Our roast was rather long and thin, so it cooked up fairly quickly. A thicker roast may take longer than expected.
Let stand for 25-30 minutes before carving. Cut away the kitchen string and slice with a sharp carving knife, 1/2 inch thick slices, against the grain of the meat.
Note that the method of cooking directly on the oven rack will mimic a convection oven and the cooking time/oven temp needed will be less than you would need if you cooked the roast on a rack in a roasting pan. If you are cooking the roast directly in a roasting pan, rack or not, start the roast at 450°F and then reduce the heat to 325°F. Also, the shape of the roast will have an impact on the cooking time. Our roast was rather long and thin, so it cooked up fairly quickly. A thicker roast may take longer than expected.
Let stand for 25-30 minutes before carving. Cut away the kitchen string and slice with a sharp carving knife, 1/2 inch thick slices, against the grain of the meat.
5 While the roast is resting, use a metal spatula to scrape up the drippings in the roasting pan. Use the drippings to make a gravy, or use just the drippings themselves to serve with the lamb.
