Greek Style Roast Leg of Lamb (Perfect for your Easter Table!!)

[Music] hi guys yasas ricardo steve to another episode of dimitra's dishes today we're going to be making a roasted leg of lamb greek style it's going to be easy delicious and the perfect main course to serve for easter time or for a spring get-together let's get started okay so you're going to need one leg of lamb that's between seven to eight or nine pounds have your butcher clean it up a little bit and remove a little bit of the excess fat if you prefer it that way and then what you're going to do is with a sharp knife you're going to cut slits into it because this is going to hold garlic slivers and it's going to add so much flavor it's also going to help the marinade penetrate through all that lemon and oregano it's just going to go inside and flavor it and it's going to be so delicious okay so once you do that set it aside and then you're going to take some garlic cloves and you're going to cut them so that way they fit in between those little slits and you know me the more garlic the merrier you put as much as you like in there okay so i already cut the slits i'm gonna put the garlic in there last because i'm gonna have to flip this around to get all the marinade off and lots of lemon juice you need at least a third of a cup i like to put a little bit more this is a really big piece of lamb and not only does lemon juice add lots of nice tangy fresh flavor but it also cuts the gaminess of the lamb because lamb does tend to be a little gamey but you put as much as you like on there i'm just gonna put a tiny bit of olive oil maybe three four tablespoons because again lamb is a very fatty cut of meat so you don't want this to be too greasy i used to put more back in the day but i really cut the amount of oil that i use when i'm cooking with lamb then i'm going to season it with salt i generally my general rule of thumb with salt is half a teaspoon per pound of meat so this is seven pounds you're going to need about three to four teaspoons then oregano is another great flavor that really helps it really complements lamb dried oregano if you get greek oregano it's delicious we're going to put a few fresh rosemary sprigs in here i'll just put these are big so i'll just cut them in half just like that so before we season the back side of the lamb let me just get the onion in here too the onion is going to help create a nice sauce and it's going to add sweetness and really good flavor now i'm using a red onion but you can use any onion that you have just quarter it and put it in here and i'll put two if you have a smaller cut of lamb one onion will be enough i'm just going to flip it over and season the other side as well i'll use my clean hand to touch the salt and also put some dried oregano and you can put garlic on the back side too but what i'm going to do for the bottom of the pan is even though there's going to be plenty of garlic in the in the lamb itself i am going to put a few cloves down here so they can cook underneath the lamb and now i'm going to take these little slivers of garlic and stick them in the slits that i've cut and you can season the garlic slivers with a little bit of salt and oregano too if you want to it'll just add more flavor and the funny thing is i cut the slits and now i can't see them so i'll just cut a few more [Music] so all of the garlic is in and now i'm going to add a cup of water to the bottom of the pan that's going to help it cook evenly [Music] and then the only thing that i forgot was some freshly cracked black pepper and you guys will be very happy to see that i do have a new pepper mill i've been out of one for a while and have been using already ground pepper and honestly nothing beats freshly ground you could actually smell the essential oils smells different tastes better just took me a while to get one anyway some freshly ground pepper on top if you want to you can sprinkle some crushed red pepper flakes now i am going to go and grab some in a second so i'm going to sprinkle some crushed red pepper flakes all on top that is optional then i'm going to take a piece of parchment paper it protects from touching the it protects the meat from touching the foil and i'm going to cover this tightly with aluminum foil my oven is preheated to 350 degrees fahrenheit this is going to bake in there roast in there nice and slow it's gonna take at least three hours for it to be ready i like the meat really nice and soft and almost falling off the bone so i'm just gonna keep an eye on it every oven works differently keep an eye on it again like i said it's going to take about three to four hours sometimes it's ready in a little bit under that maybe two and a half hours but hardly ever so i'll show you what it looks like as soon as it's out so the lamb is ready it took a little over four hours because this was a really big cut what i did at the end once it was done you definitely want to go in and start checking it at the three and a half hour mark keep it covered until it is fork tender and almost falling off the bone the meat should be really nice and soft then what i did i learned a trick for my mom for the last five minutes i just turned the broiler element on so the top can get a little bit nice and golden brown and crispy while the inside is going to be really nice and juicy while the lamb was cooking in the oven i also prepared some lemony potatoes all i did was i peeled some russet potatoes and quartered them put them on the sheet pan and i poured some lemon juice on them olive oil seasoned with salt pepper and oregano tossed everything all together i also put a little pinch of crushed red pepper flakes on top and then i poured a little bit of water on the bottom so it could help them cook and i just put them in the oven and let them cook alongside the lamb it took them about an hour and 20 minutes potatoes are ready when they're fork tender you can definitely make this whole meal a few hours ahead of time before your guests arrive and then just warm everything through right before you put it on the table to serve it this would all go great with some spanakopita some tzatziki also a mediterranean rice pilaf would be really nice and i did make all of those things i'm going to get ready to set the table you guys head on over to the website www.demetriousdishes.com make all these recipes they're delicious call call your family and friends over if you can and share them because sharing is caring in my world let me take a little taste of the lamb first before i move it over to the table let me make sure i get some of the sauce too the onions pretty much melted you can definitely put the onions alongside like that or even puree everything and make like a little light gravy to go alongside so lemony so bright and that garlic inside has melted so it just flavored the meat so much the the oregano and the rosemary add so much freshness and cut the gaminess of the lamb this is a recipe that you're going to love it reminds me of easter time at my mom and dad's house my dad used to make a big huge whole lamb on the spit and it has all the same flavors i hope you guys start this tradition with your family at home and you enjoy it thank you guys so much for spending time with me today i'll see you all next time yes

Channel: Dimitra's Dishes

Views: 276,638

Rating: 4.8695092 out of 5

Keywords: cooking show, greek food, greek recipes, Dimitra Khan, euro bakery and cafe, easy recipes

Id: 4kYC5V2tbCE

Length: 8min 34sec (514 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 30 2021