Greek Style Roasted Lamb Recipes

GREEK SLOW ROASTED LEG OF LAMB

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 240°C/465°F (220°C fan). (Note 2)
• Use a small knife to make around 25 incisions all over the lamb, with most on the top.
• Cut around 6 cloves into slivers and stuff them into the incisions.
• Sprinkle the lamb generously all over with salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder. Drizzle with olive oil and rub all over the lamb.
• Place the lamb in a roasting pan and roast for 30 minutes or until it has a nice brown crust.
• Remove from the oven. Turn the oven down to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan).
• Turn the lamb upside down. Pour / place all the remaining ingredients in the pan around the lamb (including remaining garlic cloves). Fill the roasting pan with hot water so it comes up about 1/4 - 1/3 of the way up the height of the lamb.
• Cover with lid or with baking/parchment paper then 2 layers of foil. Bake for 3.5 hours. (Note 3) Top up water if it dries out (e.g. Might happen if your lid is loose)
• Remove the roast from the oven and remove the lid/foil. Turn the lamb over so it is the right side up.
• Cover again and roast for a further 2 1/2 hours, or until you can pull meat apart with forks.
• Remove cover and roast for a further 20 - 30 minutes (to brown). (Note 3)
• Remove from the oven and transfer lamb to serving platter. Cover loosely with foil and rest for 30 - 40 minutes.
• Strain liquid into a clear jug. The fat will rise to the top. Scoop/pour most of it off - I get 3/4 - 1 cup. There should be 2 - 3 cups of Sauce left. Adjust salt, pepper and lemon to taste.
• Serve lamb with the Sauce on the side and Truly Crunchy Roast Potatoes (heat oil while lamb is in the oven, then cook potatoes when the lamb is resting).

GREEK ROAST LAMB

Steps:

• Heat oven to 240C/fan 220C/gas 9. Pound the garlic, half the oregano, lemon zest and a pinch of salt in a pestle and mortar, then add the lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil. Stab the lamb all over with a sharp knife, then push as much of the herb paste as you can into the holes.
• Tip the potatoes into a large roasting tin, then toss in the remaining olive oil and any remaining herb paste. Nestle the lamb amongst the potatoes, roast for 20 mins, then reduce the temperature to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Roast for 1 hr 15 mins for medium-rare, adding another 15 mins if you prefer your lamb medium. Baste the lamb once or twice with the juices and toss the potatoes. When the lamb is done to your liking, remove from the tin and let it rest. Throw the rest of the oregano in with the potatoes, scoop from the tin and keep warm.
• Place the roasting tin over a medium flame, add the canned tomatoes and olives to the pan juices, then simmer for a few mins. Serve the lamb with the potatoes and sauce and a simple salad.

GREEK ROASTED LAMB

Steps:

• Remove bone and fell from lamb, if necessary.
• Piece together and tie with kitchen twine.
• Mix remaining ingredients and pour over lamb, coating it thoroughly (make additional marinade if needed).
• Marinate lamb 6 hours or preferably, overnight.
• Drain marinade and allow lamb to warm (remove a lot of the chill).
• Place lamb (along with root vegetables, if desired) in roasting pan and roast at 450F for approximately 15 minutes, then reduce oven heat to 350F and continue roasting until an instant-read thermometer reads 145-150F for medium rare, or 160F+ for well done, allowing that the meat will raise about 5 degrees as it rests after cooking.
• Start checking your meat temp with the instant read thermometer at about 20-25 minutes per pound.
• Allow the roast to rest undisturbed for about 25 minutes before carving.
• Reduce any drippings, if desired, to serve with the lamb.

ROASTED GREEK LEG OF LAMB

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place the leg of lamb into a large roasting pan. Distribute potatoes, carrots, and celery around the meat. Slice small slits all over the surface of the lamb and stuff them with garlic cloves. Sprinkle oregano and rosemary over meat.
• Mix olive oil, lemon juice, wine, and mustard together and drizzle over the meat and vegetables.
• Bake, covered, in the preheated oven for 1 hour. Uncover and continue baking until browned, about 20 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the lamb should read at least 130 degrees F (54 degrees C).
• Let lamb cool for 5 minutes. Serve with the vegetables.

LEG OF LAMB-BONELESS-GREEK STYLE

Steps:

• In a large bowl combine the 1/2 cup lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper.
• Whisk well.
• Place lamb in a shallow baking dish and cover with marinade, turning to coat.
• Marinate for 3 hours or overnight, turning a few times.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Remove lamb and place on a roasting rack over a baking dish.
• Cook for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue cooking for another 40 minutes.
• Test for desired doneness.
• Remove lamb from oven, sprinkle reserved lemon juice over cooked meat, wrap in foil and let stand for 10 to 15 minutes.

SLOW ROASTED GREEK LAMB

Steps:

• Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF.
• Place the peeled potatoes, onions and lemon peel in a large, oven-proof pot/casserole and season with salt, pepper, oregano and olive oil. Add rosemary and garlic.
• Drizzle 1-2 tablespoons olive oil over the lamb and season generously with salt, pepper and oregano. Place the lamb over the potatoes then pour in the stock and wine.
• Cover with a lid and place in the oven. Allow to roast for 30 minutes then turn the heat down to 160ºC/320ºF for 3-4 hours until the lamb is tender.
• Remove the lid and turn the heat back up to 200ºC/400ºF and allow the lamb to roast until golden brown (approximately 1 hour). At this point you can remove the lamb and cover with foil to rest for at least 10 minutes, ideally up to 30 minutes. Pour the stock into a jug and place the potatoes back in the oven to roast until golden brown and crisp.
• Slice/shred the lamb once rested and serve with the potatoes and gravy.

SLOW-COOKED GREEK LAMB

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3 and sit a shelf as low as possible. Pierce the lamb all over with a small knife, then fill each slit with a garlic clove and half an anchovy fillet. Rub all over with the oil, then season.
• Heat a flameproof casserole dish and sear the lamb all over until well browned. Take off the heat, remove the lamb from the dish and tip in the tomatoes, carrots, sage and rosemary. Sit the lamb on top and scatter over the thyme.
• Cover the dish, slip it onto the bottom shelf of the oven and cook for 4-5 hrs until pull-apart tender. Carefully lift the lamb from the dish, discard the herbs and roughly squash the tomatoes into the juices. Sit the lamb back in the dish and serve in big shredded chunks with tzatziki, chickpea salad and flatbreads for mopping up the juices.

GREEK STYLE ROAST LEG OF LAMB WITH LEMON ROASTED POTATOES

Steps:

• Pierce the leg of lamb with a knife and insert the slivers of garlic all around the surface.
• Mix the remaining garlic, oregano, rosemary, thyme, the juice and zest of 1 lemon, the oil, mustard, paprika, salt and pepper, rub the mixture over the lamb and let it marinade in the fridge for 1 hour to over night.
• Place the lamb on a rack in your roasting pan, top it with some of the marinade and place enough water in the pan to cover the bottom without touching the lamb.
• Cover in foil and roast in a preheated 450F/230C oven on the middle rack until tender enough to easily pull from the bone, about 2-4 hours, adding more water if needed.
• Reduce the heat to 350F/180C and roast until browned, remove from the oven cover in foil and let rest.
• Remove the drippings from the pan reserving them.
• Skim off a few tablespoons of the fat from the drippings and toss the potato wedges in them along with the juice of one lemon, oregano, salt and pepper to taste.
• Cut the remaining lemons into wedges, add them to the pan along with the potato wedges and roast at 450F/230C until the potatoes are tender on the inside and slightly crispy on the outside, about 30-45 minutes.

GREEK STYLE ROASTED LAMB

Steps:

• Wash lamb well and pat dry and place in a glass dish or sturdy sealable plastic bag large enough to hold the lamb.
• In a small bowl whisk together all the marinade ingredients and pour into the the bag or dish the lamb is in. Turn to coat and massage the lamb with it and seal bag/dish and allow to marinate refrigerated for a few hours up to two days. (the longer the better esp to help with gaminess and tenderness of lamb)
• Once ready to roast remove lamb from fridge and allow to come to room temperature then preheat oven to 400°F and prepare the lamb for baking.
• In a small bowl mix together the garlic, oregano, rosemary, butter, honey and Dijon mustard and set aside
• Remove lamb from marinade (keep marinade) and pierce the lamb all over with the tip of a sharp knife
• Rub garlic butter-herb-mustard mixture over lamb, pressing into incisions.
• Coat with remaining 2 tbsp of oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Line a roasting pan with a few layers of foil, place a rack over foil and transfer the lamb to rack.
• Pour the marinade left over from the lamb into the pan for aromatics and steam.
• Roast, uncovered, at 400°F for 15 minutes to brown and then REDUCE heat to 375°F approx 1½ hours, turn lamb over (optional) to make a crust on the other side, and continue to roast for another 45 minutes turning it back for the last bit of coking time (total roasting time is approx 2 hours and 15 minutes and roughly 20 minutes per lb. Internal temp for medium to well done should be approx 160-170°F). If the lamb gets to dark too quickly feel free to loosely tent lamb for remaining cooking time.
• Once done let lamb rest tented with foil for at least ten minutes then squeeze lemon juice over it, slice and serve. Slice and serve with the extra lemon wedges.

ROAST LEG OF LAMB, GREEK STYLE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
• Under running water, trim the outer layer of fat from the lamb and blot dry. Allow the lamb to reach room temperature and squeeze the juice from the lemons over the lamb. Slice cloves of garlic, lengthwise.
• Put salt and pepper into a small container. Cut 6 small slots into each side of the leg of lamb, about 1-inch deep. Insert garlic slivers, followed by salt and pepper, into the lamb. Lightly sprinkle top of lamb with oregano. Pour the water into a roasting pan, add lamb, and cover with foil. Roast on lowest rack of oven for 40 minutes to 1 hour.
• Remove foil, lower heat to 375 degrees and roast for 40 to 50 minutes, or until lamb reaches desired temperature. Remove and let lamb stand about 30 minutes as the lamb continues to cook.
• To test the temperature of the meat, insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the leg without touching the bone. For rare lamb, the thermometer should register 140 degrees. For medium, the thermometer should register 145 degrees.

SLOW ROASTED GREEK SHOULDER OF LAMB

Steps:

• preheat oven to 200c (390f) on bake, not fan
• keep aside a little of the preserved lemon for garnish
• in a small bowl add all ingredients except lamb and mix to a paste
• spread 3 layers of tin foil, then another 3 layers of foil facing the opposite way
• place lamb on foil and rub marinade all over top and bottom
• wrap foil very tightly around lamb
• sit lamb on a trivet, or cake rack in a baking dish
• place in preheated oven on middle shelf for 10 minutes
• reduce oven temperature to 130c (260f) and cook for 5 hours
• carefully unwrap the foil and drain juices into a small saucepan
• cover lamb with foil
• reduce jus on medium heat until it reduces a little (about 10 minutes)
• pour jus into a serving jug
• sprinkle parsley, preserved lemon and currants over lamb
• serve and enjoy!

ROAST LEG OF LAMB, GREEK STYLE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
• Under running water, trim the outer layer of fat from the lamb and blot dry. Allow the lamb to reach room temperature and squeeze the juice from the lemons over the lamb. Slice cloves of garlic, lengthwise.
• Put salt and pepper into a small container. Cut 6 small slots into each side of the leg of lamb, about 1-inch deep. Insert garlic slivers, followed by salt and pepper, into the lamb. Lightly sprinkle top of lamb with oregano. Pour the water into a roasting pan, add lamb, and cover with foil. Roast on lowest rack of oven for 40 minutes to 1 hour.
• Remove foil, lower heat to 375 degrees and roast for 40 to 50 minutes, or until lamb reaches desired temperature. Remove and let lamb stand about 30 minutes as the lamb continues to cook. To test the temperature of the meat, insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the leg without touching the bone. For rare lamb, the thermometer should register 140 degrees. For medium, the thermometer should register 145 degrees.

GREEK SLOW ROASTED LAMB SHOULDER

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan assisted/Gas mark 6.
• In a bowl add the marinade ingredients and mix through until fully combined.
• Place 3 large strips off foil on the work surface and massage the marinade all over the lamb until it is fully covered.
• Wrap the lamb tightly in the foil. Place on a rack within a roasting tin. Roast in the oven for 10 minutes.
• Now reduce the heat to 130°C/110°C fan assisted/Gas mark 1/2 and roast for a further 5 hours. Carefully unwrap the foil and add the juices to a pan, place over a medium heat for about 10 minutes until reduced. Meanwhile, cover the lamb in foil and set aside.
• To serve, pour the jus into a serving jug, sprinkle the lamb with parsley and preserved lemons. Serve with Greek Salad, roasted potatoes, pitta and/or seasonal vegetables. Enjoy!