US
lamb
1
best roast leg of lamb
© David Loftus

best roast leg of lamb

servings
6
printBtn convertBtn

method


This is a British classic everyone loves, especially at Easter. It's easy to make and is so tasty...

Serves 6


Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºC/gas 6 and place a roasting dish for the potatoes on the bottom.

Mix the crushed garlic, chopped rosemary, lemon zest and olive oil together. Season the lamb with salt and pepper and rub the marinade into it. Place on the hot bars of the oven above the tray.

Boil the potatoes, simmer for 10 minutes and scuff the edges. Add the rosemary sprigs and whole garlic cloves, season with salt and pepper and drizzle over a good glug of olive oil. Tip the potatoes into the tray and place under the lamb to catch all the lovely juices.

To make the mint sauce, mix the chopped mint, sugar, salt, hot water and wine vinegar.

Cook the lamb for about an hour and 15 minutes if you want it pink, or an hour and a half if you want it more well done. Take it out of the oven and cover with tinfoil and leave for 15 minutes before serving. Carve and serve with the potatoes and mint sauce.

Tip: Try putting a few parsnips or carrots in with the roast potatoes.

ingredients


• 1 bulb of garlic, 3 cloves peeled and crushed, the others left whole
• a small bunch of fresh rosemary, half the leaves removed and coarsely chopped, half in sprigs
• zest of 1 lemon
• olive oil
• 2kg leg of lamb
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1.5kg potatoes, peeled and cut in half
• 4 tablespoons chopped, fresh mint leaves
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 pinches of salt
• 1 tablespoon hot water
• 3 tablespoons wine vinegar

share this page

tried this recipe or a similar one? share your tips...
1. by Cameron Legge on Sun 13 May 2012 @ 13:13

Nice I will try it but I know it will work because I trust in you

2. by doug on Sun 15 Apr 2012 @ 22:17

Excellent - who'd of thought the best cook in the several kingdoms would be a cheeky lad from London.

3. by Anthony on Mon 09 Apr 2012 @ 12:20

Where in the recipe does it say "put the lamb on the wire tray above the potatoes".<br /> It doesn't, it means put the Lamb on top of the Potatoes, as in the Picture above. <br /> It would result in a very messy oven done any other way.

4. by Bee on Sun 08 Apr 2012 @ 15:27

I tried this today for Easter Sunday, and it was a great flavour. Not sure how much putting it on the bars actually made a difference, will probably just do it in a tin next time! I would also rest it for about 30 minutes next time as it was very bloody after 15 minutes.

5. by Craig on Sun 08 Apr 2012 @ 11:54

200ºC or 400ºF - For 1hr & 15 minutes for lamb that is pink in the middle. *the best in my opinion*<br /> 200ºC or 400ºF - For 1hr & 30 minutes for lamb that is darker.<br /> <br /> Once cooked, cover in foil and leave on the side for a further 15 minutes. This softens the outside of the lamb as the heat given off by the meat creates condensation.<br /> <br /> I can't wait to eat this, it smells amazing<br />

6. by Ali on Sat 24 Mar 2012 @ 21:51

Absolutely gorgeous !!!!

7. by Santali on Tue 20 Mar 2012 @ 23:23

I made this tonight and it was so good, the best roast lamb I've tasted! I just put it in an oven dish and basted a couple of times, didn't bother with the hot bars above the tray of potatoes. The potatoes came out really well without the meat juices anyway... I also made roasted carrots with paprika, brussel sprouts and Yorkshire puddings as well as a gravy with the meat juices and everyone was really impressed. My first roast lamb, just a shame there's not much left over... :)

8. by 1991 on Sun 18 Mar 2012 @ 16:15

I'm doing this recipe today for mothers day, it smells beautiful hope she enjoys it as much as i will. I love all of your recipes and your restraunt in Birmingham is amazing!

9. by Tanny on Mon 20 Feb 2012 @ 02:47

It was really good!

10. by Hamid on Sun 12 Feb 2012 @ 14:32

Cooked this yesterday for 6 other friends - went down amazingly!<br /> The dish was relatively simple to make as once you get everything in to the oven, the most of your work is done. <br /> Will definitely be trying this again in the future with some subtle variations just to keep things interesting.

11. by Andy from South Africa on Sat 21 Jan 2012 @ 19:48

I never tried putting it directly on the oven rack before, so I am very excited to see how it will turn out, hope mine turns out as yummy as all the other people that commented on here. Seems I have been doing roast lamb wrong all these years! I always covered it with foil!

12. by Michelle on Thu 29 Dec 2011 @ 13:56

Just wondering.. Is it 200 C or 400 C or 400 F? <Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºC/gas 6 and place a roasting dish for the potatoes on the bottom.>

13. by Mob on Sat 24 Dec 2011 @ 20:58

Are you suppose to cover the lamb with foil at some point?<br />

14. by charmed1 on Sun 16 Oct 2011 @ 11:05

the lamb i bought says i should cook it at gas mark 4 but you say 6 so im torn, dont know whether to just use gas mark 5???

15. by Lisa taylor on Tue 27 Sep 2011 @ 09:23

From what I can tell, this recipie is yum?? I'm having the mother in law round for a roast on Sunday and it'll be my first roast! Agh!! Is it easy enough even for a first timer? Can anyone give me any tips please??? Thanks :)

16. by paula on Wed 24 Aug 2011 @ 07:46

iwill this recipe be good for shoulder of lamb?

17. by Bjorn on Sat 06 Aug 2011 @ 09:04

I always hace the leg deboned at the butcher, then lay it flat in a large dish and cover the whole piece in course salt, turn over and repeat until the meat is totally white with salt. I leave it for 1 hour. Then I mix all the ingredients together in a large plastic bag, needs to be very liquid. After about 1 hour , the salt has aborbed all the moisture from the meat, dont worry , the meat does not absorb course salt.Hold the meat over the basin and scrape off every piece of salt.Once all the salt is removed , drop the meat in the plastic bag with marinade. The "thirsty" meat now sucks all the marinade juices and flavors in.Leave overnight , then roll as a swiss roll and tie with string. Cook as per recipe.

18. by cheryl on Sat 23 Jul 2011 @ 09:09

I made this dish today, the lamb was absolutely delicious! who would have thought to put the lamb leg directly onto the oven rack, worked a treat! Thanks Jamie xx

19. by Cheryl on Sat 23 Jul 2011 @ 04:25

I'm cooking this lamb right now, smelling good. Never thought to put the lamb directly onto the oven shelf, think this is gonna work out good. No spuds thou, so gotta settle for pumpkin and carrots instead. Some peas and broccoli steamed with the gravy yum! I'm trying the mint sauce too, my hubby used to love the one his mum makes, thanks Jamie for giving me a recipe for this, Ive never had mint sauce, hope my one turns out like yours! :)

20. by paula on Sun 29 May 2011 @ 19:07

hi what if you are cooking 4 kilos of leg of lamb bone in how many hours will you have to bake it if you want your meat medium rare?

21. by Nick on Mon 09 May 2011 @ 17:24

guys it was 200 degrees Celsius, 400 degrees Fahrenheit... just a misprint. Celsius is roughly half Fahrenheit when it involves these sorts of degree.

22. by HappyPhantom on Sun 24 Apr 2011 @ 23:59

I made this dish for a family meal today - perfect for Easter. I'd never cooked lamb like this before and I was a bit worried the meat might dry out, but it worked perfectly - the lamb was tender and really tasty. <br /> <br /> I cooked loads of roast potatos in a roasting dish below the lamb, they started to crisp up really nicely with all the juices from the lamb above. About 20 mins before serving, with my meat resting, I transferred the potatos to a couple of smaller baking trays and put them back into the oven to crisp up. There were loads of gorgeous flavors left in the roasting dish so I put this on the job, and made a gravy by adding red wine, stock and a little bit of butter and reducing to half the quantity. The result was a really tasty red wine gravy with garlic and rosemary - yum. <br /> <br /> All went down really well - I was the only one who didn't have seconds. Highly recommended!

23. by Shelley hocking on Sun 24 Apr 2011 @ 17:03

I don't know what you use in America but it 200 degrees Celsius- I think that 400 was a misprint. I have however done what the recipe said and put my potatoes in with the lamb and now wondering if I've done it wrong :( #*#^%*#!!!

24. by John on Sun 24 Apr 2011 @ 16:36

'Scuffed Potatoes' Peel and boil (with a pinch of salt, optional) for 20mins approx, just before they start to disintegrate, drain and allow to sit for a few minutes, then give the container a bit of a jiggle, a potato like Maris Piper will develop scuffed edges which will crisp-up nicely in the oven.

25. by james on Sun 24 Apr 2011 @ 14:31

to scuff potatoes, when you drain them put a plate over the colander ad shake them up so they have crumbly edges, it helps if you leave it to dry in their steam for a min

26. by JP on Sun 24 Apr 2011 @ 11:06

The lambs in the oven as I type this .. Just wanted to help with the cooking temperatures: 200C equals 400F (there's a typing error in the recipe - the 400 should be marked F not C.

27. by gravylover on Sat 23 Apr 2011 @ 17:52

If all the juices from the lamb have dripped into the potatoes, what ya gonna use to make the gravy?

28. by lorna on Sat 23 Apr 2011 @ 17:08

I can always count on you for the easyest & best tasting recp. Wish i had your outside Garden & Oven, Making your leg of lamb recp. for Easter, i know it will be perfect.

29. by Pastafarian on Sat 23 Apr 2011 @ 14:58

Hi, anyone know if I'm supposed to put water in with the potatoes in the oven? I'm guessing not. Also, how does one scuff a potato?<br /> Thanks!

30. by Renee on Fri 22 Apr 2011 @ 21:26

In your conversion box, can you please also include oven temp conversions? The oven temp on this recipe is confusing "200 C/400 C/gas 6," for Americans. I don't know if I should convert 200 C or 400 C, which of those temps to bake it at and have no clue about "gas 6." Thanks!

31. by Devon on Thu 21 Apr 2011 @ 19:11

hi, has anyone tried to make this in a roasting pan using the roasting rack?

32. by aJ on Thu 21 Apr 2011 @ 13:10

Hi susan,<br /> <br /> I believe it means put the lamb directly on to the top shelf of the oven, not in any kind of baking tray. Put the tray (later add potatoes to this tray) on the shelf underneath so it catches all the juices from the lamb. Hope this helps! x

33. by susan on Mon 18 Apr 2011 @ 16:18

Hi, can I please get the american conversions and what does "Place on the hot bars of the oven above the tray" mean?<br /> <br /> Thanks.

34. by Susan on Mon 18 Apr 2011 @ 16:16

Can I get the american conversions and what does "place on the hot bars of the over above the tray" mean? <br /> Thanks

35. by Kimmy on Fri 15 Apr 2011 @ 05:47

Just magnificant. Soo delicious and wouldn't change a thing. It was a big hit at my diiner party last night i highly recommend it to lamb lovers!

36. by Kim on Fri 15 Apr 2011 @ 05:45

This is the perfect recepie.<br /> Jamie you have made my day cause now for sure i'm cooking this lovley lamb recipie for a very special occasion, my aunty's 55th birthday, as lamb is her favorite meat and you are her favorite cook. I can't wiat to serve this, as i'm sure this will be fantastic just like all your others!<br /> Love from Austrlia and people do try this out it is excellent!!

37. by alina on Sat 09 Apr 2011 @ 21:47

u r the best of the best,i love everything u done.wish u the best<br />

leave comments
related recipes
spicy barbecued leg of lamb
This recipe uses the same pre-bake method as the barbecued pork belly, but it’s cooked for less time...
Read more
spring lamb shepherd’s pie
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5. Trim any large bits of fat off the lamb, then cut the meat...
Read more

latest members recipes
Cheese and Crackers
Added by beedee22
Fri 25 May 2012 @ 15:27
Olive Oil Bread
Added by Chef Fabrizio
Thu 24 May 2012 @ 05:27
Mozzarella and Basil Bread
Added by Chef Fabrizio
Thu 24 May 2012 @ 05:22
Tangy Tamarind Tiger Prawns
Added by Mango Ginger
Wed 23 May 2012 @ 08:47
Facebook
more categories