How to cook leg of lamb in a steel oven. Leg of lamb - how to cut, marinate and cook

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

Baked leg of lamb is a dish for all occasions. Thanks to its size, with the help of such a dish you will be able to feed a crowd of guests or forget about cooking for the whole family for about 4 days. The beauty of roasting a ham is that the process is simple, and the results will live up to your expectations! It will not only be tasty, but also healthy.

How to cook leg of lamb in the oven

Meaty ham can be supplemented with vegetables, seasonings and various herbs. In any version, the meat turns out juicy and tender in taste. Before you bake a leg of lamb in the oven, you need to make a choice. It's better to buy the back of the lamb. This carcass does not have an unpleasant odor and is not very greasy. If you notice yellow fat on a leg of lamb, then it is better to discard this piece: no matter how you marinate it, it will have a specific aroma.

How long to bake

This baked leg takes longer to cook compared to regular pork. Foot size plays a big role. Time must be calculated according to this principle: for every kilogram of weight, an hour. In order not to worry about how long it takes to cook lamb in the oven, you should purchase a cooking thermometer. Having installed it in the widest part of the carcass, the hostess should see 65 C internal temperature. This indicates that the shank is fully prepared. After turning off the oven, the leg of lamb should rest for another 20 minutes.

How to marinate

The marinating method depends on the quality of the lamb ham. If you bought good meat, then just salt, pepper and add aromatic spices with olive oil. For baking, it is better to choose a part of young lamb. If the animal is under 18 months, the fibers retain a large amount of nucleic acid and there is no characteristic specific odor.

Also great for pickling garlic, onions, red peppers and tomatoes. Caucasian spices such as hops-suneli, cilantro, caraway seeds will saturate the shank with a special aroma. Many people have difficulty figuring out how to marinate a leg of lamb for baking if the meat is tough. Professionals advise using kiwi for this case. The leg is rubbed with fruit puree and marinated for an hour or two. All the rigidity will go away. In addition, you can boil the shank, and then start the main cooking using the oven.

Oven leg of lamb recipe

There are many options for cooking shanks using the oven. This dish looks very beautiful and festive, just like in the photo. Baked shank can come with or without a side dish. Potatoes or grains or beans are suitable for this. Many people prefer to cook using a sleeve, which makes the lamb recipe in the oven even easier to follow. In this case, the dish will never burn and will retain its aroma, juice and juiciness.

In foil

The presented recipe is often used for special occasions. The dish is not a traditional food of our region, so it is happily prepared for the holidays. Roasting a leg of lamb in the oven in foil is very easy if you have a good piece of lamb at home and some spices. Thanks to the thin metal wrapper, aromas and juiciness do not evaporate. Plus, this dish looks amazing!

Ingredients:

leg of lamb – 2.5 kg;
prunes – 200 g;
carrot – 1 pc.;
white onion – 2 pcs.;
parsley – 1 bunch;
garlic – 6 cloves;
mustard – 2 tbsp. l.;
lemon – 1 pc.;
olive oil – 4 tbsp. l.;
spices.

Cooking method

Wash the ham and remove excess fat.
For the marinade, use various seasonings: peppercorns, bay leaves, Provençal herbs and basil. Add parsley and chopped garlic to the dry mixtures. Pour the resulting mass with olive oil, fresh lemon juice, and mix well.
Rub the marinade thoroughly onto the leg. Wrap in foil for 12 hours.
Before baking, make deep cuts in the leg, lay them with prunes and herbs.
Thoroughly rub the leg with mustard and salt, place pieces of carrots and onions around it.
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees and place the leg wrapped in foil inside.
After an hour, reduce the temperature to 180 C, open the foil.
Cook for another 60 minutes, periodically basting the lamb with its own juices.
After 2 hours, let the baked dish sit, covered in foil, for another 20 minutes.

With potato

Baked lamb shoulder is delicious and nutritious. Lamb meat contains a large amount of protein; as for cholesterol, it is minimal. In combination with potatoes it turns out very satisfying. Housewives will appreciate the simplicity and ease of the cooking process. This option will not take much time, and due to the fact that the lamb with potatoes in the oven in the sleeve turns out to be of impressive volume, you can eat the baked dish for several days.

Ingredients:

leg of lamb – 1 kg;
potatoes – 2 kg;
bay leaf – 2 leaves;
white onion – 2 heads;
oregano – 2 pinches;
sunflower oil – 3 tbsp. l.;
spice mixture.

Cooking method

Wash the leg of lamb and dry it with a paper towel. If desired, you can chop it to get a full roast, or leave it whole.
Salt the ham and add spices. Leave to marinate for 40 minutes
Peel the onion and cut into large pieces.
Wash the potatoes and chop into pieces no thinner than 1 cm.
Mix vegetables together, add salt and pepper.
Grease a baking sheet with oil, place potatoes and onions on it, and top with ham. Sprinkle everything with oregano and other spices.
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees, place the dish for 45 minutes.
Periodically baste the baked ham with the broth that collects in the pan. If it is not enough, add half a glass of dry wine.
After the required time has passed, let the dish cool for 5 minutes, then serve.

In beer

A polyethylene sleeve is a universal invention that comes to the aid of the housewife in any situation, even if she does not know how to bake a leg of lamb in the oven. This cooking technique requires minimal effort. Whatever you stuff the carcass with will impart its aroma. Lamb baked using a sleeve does not require time. Just set the desired temperature and forget about the dish. In 3 hours you will have a juicy and festive dish. A leg of lamb baked in beer according to this recipe will turn out amazing. If you don’t have a whole piece, you can make a knuckle using this principle.

Ingredients:

lamb ham – 1.5 kg;
white onion – 2 pcs.;
garlic – 4 cloves;
basil - a small bunch;
bay leaf – 2 leaves;
black pepper – 1 tsp;
olive oil – 3 tbsp. l.;
wine vinegar – 1 tsp;
hot pepper – 1 pc.;
beer - 1 glass.
salt as needed.

Cooking method

Wash and dry the ham with a paper towel.
Make shallow slits in the shank, stuff it with garlic and bay leaves, sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.
Add half a glass of beer, herbs, vinegar, hot pepper to olive oil and rub your leg. Leave for 2 hours.
Cut the onion into rings and place them on the sleeve.
The leg is laid out on an onion bed and poured with beer.
Place the ham in an oven preheated to 200 C for 3 hours.
30 minutes before it’s ready, open the sleeve and reduce the heat to 180 C. Periodically baste the shank with beer brine.

With vegetables

Leg of lamb goes well with a side dish of vegetables. Potatoes, tomatoes and carrots will not only help to better reveal the taste of the meat carcass, but will add flavor and make the baked dish even more appetizing. If you like leg of lamb with vegetables in the oven, but don’t know how to prepare the dish yourself, follow the recipe presented. For this option, both the whole part and pieces are suitable.

Ingredients:

lamb ham - 500 g;
potatoes – 200 g;
carrot – 1 pc.;
onion – 1 pc.;
tomatoes – 3 pcs.;
sunflower oil – 3 tablespoons;
spices, salt to taste.

Cooking method

Wash the lamb and remove excess fat. For the marinade, use spices, salt and sunflower oil. Generously rub a piece of meat with it. Leave to marinate for an hour.
Cut the vegetables into large pieces and place in the bottom of a deep baking bowl.
Place the ham on top of the vegetables and add half a glass of water.
Preheat the oven to 200 C, place the bowl. Cook for 1.5 hours with the lid closed.
After the set time has passed, remove the lid and leave the dish in the oven to form a golden crust.

With quince

If you like unusual culinary improvisations, try combining sweet and sour quince with fatty, aromatic meat. With such a baked dish you can easily surprise your guests with your gastronomic talents. The unusual fruit, although it has its own sweetness, will not kill the wonderful taste of the meat, but will emphasize it. The fruit contains a large amount of vitamins and minerals. Just 2 hours and a juicy leg of lamb baked with quince will appear on the table.

Ingredients:

leg of lamb – 1.5 kg;
quince – 0.3 kg;
carrots – 2 pcs.;
white onion – 2 pcs.;
bay leaf – 2 pcs.;
garlic – 1 head;
cardamom – 6 pcs.;
pepper mixture;
salt.

Cooking method

Peel the onion, cut into large pieces.
Wash the carrots and chop into large squares.
You should choose a quince that is ripe, with a clean and smooth yellow skin. Wash the fruit and cut into slices. Do not remove the skin, otherwise the quince will turn into porridge during cooking.
A glass baking dish must be lined with foil.
Add onions, carrots, bay leaves, and add spices. If you want the meat to be more aromatic, it is better to peel the cardamom. Place the ham on the vegetable bed.
Sprinkle the lamb generously with quince and add 2 cups of water to the total mixture.
Cook under a closed lid for 2 hours at a temperature of 180 C.

In mustard

This simple recipe will appeal to both experienced and novice cooks. Aromatic mustard will allow lamb to better reveal its potential and satisfy even the most demanding gourmet. If you don't know how to cook the back, remember this recipe. Leg of lamb in mustard, baked in the oven, is a festive dish that can easily be prepared every day.

Ingredients:

leg of lamb – 1.5 kg;
Dijon mustard – 2 tbsp. l.;
vegetable oil – 2 tbsp. l.;
mixture of peppers, salt.

Cooking method

Wash the leg, trim off any remaining fat and veins. Rub generously with pepper and salt.
To marinate meat, you need to mix mustard and oil. Carefully coat the ham with the resulting mixture and leave for an hour or two.
The leg in the sleeve is placed in an oven preheated to 200 C. For 1.5, 2.5 hours is enough, but if the mass of the shank is larger, the time needs to be increased.
After the required time has passed, take out the ham, separate the bones (this will be easy) and serve.

Stuffed leg of lamb

If you don’t know how to prepare a delicious dish for the holiday, then pay attention to this recipe. Stuffed leg of lamb baked in the oven is a chic dish for a celebration. The dish will be an excellent choice for those who do not like to spend a lot of time in the oven. Thanks to the large volumes, the whole family will be able to eat for several days. Various mushrooms or even mixtures of them are suitable for the filling. You can use cumin, rosemary and other spices for flavor. Spices will only emphasize the taste of a special type of meat.

Ingredients:

leg of lamb – 1.5 kg;
mushrooms – 400 g;
olive oil – 2 tbsp. l.
a mixture of peppers, cumin, salt as needed.

Cooking method

Wash the mushrooms under running water and soak in a bowl.
Clean the lamb from excess fat and remove the bones through small cuts.
Mix olive oil with spices and salt, rub the meat and leave for an hour.
Pour chopped mushrooms into a heated frying pan. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
Place the prepared mushrooms into the cuts in the meat.
Rewind the cut areas with thread or close with skewers.
Place the leg on a greased baking sheet and bake at 200 C for 80 minutes.

With rosemary

If for our region lamb is not a typical dish, then in France it is prepared very often. Rosemary and garlic are mainly used as additional ingredients. These spices add a special flavor to the dish. Leg of lamb with rosemary is very easy to prepare and turns out juicy and soft. Its secret lies in a special marinating recipe and temperature conditions that will allow the meat to retain all its vitamins without remaining raw.

Ingredients:

young lamb - 1.5 kg;
garlic – 3 cloves;
rosemary – 5 branches;
red wine – 150 g;
butter – 200 g;
salt and spices as needed.

Cooking method

Wash the meat and leave at room temperature.
Melt the butter and pour it into a bowl. Add chopped or squeezed garlic, rosemary leaves, salt and other spices to the mixture. Stir the marinade with a fork.
Cut the cooled lamb deeply several times so that the depth of the holes makes it possible to stick your finger inside.
Generously coat the leg of lamb with the marinade, paying particular attention to the cuts.
Place the shank on a greased baking sheet and cover with foil. Place in an oven preheated to 200 C for 40 minutes.
When the time is up, remove the foil and leave the leg of lamb in the oven for another 50 minutes.
To prepare the sauce, heat the wine well, add butter and a tablespoon of flour. Mix until smooth.
Before serving the baked leg of lamb, pour the sauce over the meat.

In the test

Dishes in the dough turn out especially juicy, since all the liquid remains inside. An appetizing crust not only gives the dish a more attractive appearance, but also adds satiety. Leg of lamb in dough, baked in the oven, is suitable for both the main dish on a festive table and for every day. To prepare it, you need to remember a couple of simple secrets described in this recipe.

Ingredients:

leg of lamb – 1 kg;
puff pastry – 200 g;
tomatoes – 2 pcs.;
capers – 1 tbsp. l.;
garlic – 10 cloves;
anchovies – 4 pcs.;
olives – 100 g;
eggs – 1 pc.;
cilantro - a small bunch;
a mixture of peppers, salt as needed.

Cooking method

Wash the back of the lamb, remove excess fat and veins.
Carefully remove the bone so that you can then form a roll.
Peel the garlic, chop or use a garlic press.
Make several deep cuts in the leg and insert the cloves into them.
Fold the meat to form a roll and secure with thread.
Spread the knuckle generously with salt and a mixture of peppers and spread with butter.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Place the meat in the oven, drizzle with olive oil, add cumin. Leave to cook for 50 minutes.
To prepare topenade, chop the herbs, olives, capers, and tomatoes. Add olive oil, anchovies and a couple of cloves of garlic to the resulting mass. Beat all ingredients until smooth.
Remove the shank from the oven, cool, and generously brush with topnade.
Roll out the puff pastry, wrap the lamb in it, coat the “wrapper” with a raw egg.
Preheat the oven to 180 C oven, place the dish for 45 minutes.
Serve the baked lamb with the dough in portions.

Marinade for lamb in the oven

The key to a tasty dish is good meat, but do not forget about the importance of the marinade. He is able to transform a dish and reveal it from its best side. A special sauce will not only add flavor, but also help make tough meat soft and kill the specific smell if you were unable to purchase a young lamb. A simple marinade for a leg of lamb in the oven based on olive oil and spices will be inexpensive, but will make the baked dish very tasty.

Ingredients:

olive oil – 4 tbsp. l.;
mustard – 2 tbsp. l.;
rosemary – 5 branches;
garlic – 6 cloves;
spices, salt.

Cooking method

Squeeze the garlic through a garlic press into the olive oil and mustard.
Pour spices and salt into the resulting mass.
Mix everything until smooth, brush the meat.

Video

Lamb has always been considered a delicacy of oriental cuisine. Recently, this type of meat has begun to develop in Western territories. In the 21st century, it is easy to purchase this variety in a butcher shop. Meet the heroine of today's article, a leg of lamb baked in the oven.

Leg of lamb with vegetables

Baked lamb, flavored with garlic, thyme and a delicate sauce, is the undisputed leader among meat delicacies. At the same time, with vegetables it can boast of a complete absence of the specific smell that is characteristic of this type of meat. And most importantly, even a cook who has just begun to learn the intricacies of culinary art can prepare a delicious dish.

Ingredients:

Leg of ram – 3 kg.
Potatoes – 10 pcs.
Carrots – 8 pcs.
Onion – 2 heads.
Celery – 6 pcs.
Garlic – 5 cloves.
Dry red wine.
Olive oil.
Flour, mustard, rosemary, pepper, salt, thyme.

Preparation:

Coat the roasting pan thoroughly with olive oil and line the bottom with sprigs of thyme and rosemary. Place a leg of lamb on top, pre-salted and seasoned with pepper. Cover with parchment and leave for 2 hours.
While the meat is marinating, prepare the vegetables - wash and peel. Divide the carrots, potatoes and celery stalks in half, and the onion into several parts. Place the vegetables in a large container, add a little rosemary and olive oil, season with pepper, salt, stir, place in the roasting pan with the meat.
Place everything in the oven preheated to 260 degrees. After a third of an hour, turn the vegetables over, be sure to reduce the temperature by 60 degrees and continue cooking for about another hour. Keep the process under control. If the vegetables reach condition earlier, remove them and place them on a plate.
When the meat is baked, make the sauce. Pour the remaining fat into the pan, add wine and simmer until half the liquid has evaporated. Then add mustard and broth. After mixing, strain, add flour, a spoonful of butter, salt and add spices.

Video cooking

Serve with chopped vegetables. Cut into thin pieces at an acute angle, moving parallel to the bone. Do this in one motion with a sharp knife. Serve the sauce separately, and lamb meat with vegetables, garnished with herbs.

Leg of lamb in dough

Every chef strives to prepare delicacies that can arouse admiration. Leg of lamb in dough is included in the list of such dishes. Of course, creating a culinary work takes a lot of time.

Ingredients:

Leg – 2 kg.
Garlic – 3 cloves.
Flour – 750 g.
Egg whites – 6 pcs.
Egg – 1 pc.
Salt – 2 tbsp. l.
Bread crumbs – 100 g.
Rosemary – 2 sprigs.
Vegetable oil – 4 tbsp. l.
Parsley, bay, pepper.

Preparation:

Combine flour with salt, chopped rosemary, beaten egg whites, and a small glass of water. After mixing, transfer the dough to a floured table and knead thoroughly. Then wrap in film and place in a cool place for an hour.
Grind parsley with rosemary, garlic and bay in a blender and add sunflower oil and bread crumbs to the resulting mass. Naturally, mix everything.
Trim the fat from the washed and dried leg, rub thoroughly with a mixture of salt and pepper, and fry in a frying pan on both sides for fifteen minutes.
Roll out the cooled mass into a layer of centimeter thickness, cut off a third part, and set aside. Place the leg greased with mustard on the dough, cover with the previously prepared mixture, and fold the edges up. Cover the top with a cut piece of dough.
Cover with a layer of thoroughly beaten egg, transfer to a roasting pan, and bake. At 200 degrees it will take an hour and a half. Grease the finished dish with butter.

Despite the two hours of time spent, the result more than compensates for your efforts with unsurpassed taste and new impressions. Place a vegetable salad on the side dish. For example, Caesar salad.

10 marinade recipes

The length of time the meat remains in the marinade depends on its age. If lamb is properly marinated, it will turn out juicy and soft.

I present recipes for marinade for baking in the oven (each is designed for 1 kg of lamb). Each has been tested by time and proven effective.

With white wine. Add a glass of vegetable oil to a small container, pour in lemon juice, a little chopped parsley, add two laurel leaves and two allspice peas. Add carrots cut into rings and several onions chopped into half rings into the mixture. Pour in a glass of white wine, stir, and lower the leg of lamb. The duration of marinating is at least 24 hours.
With vinegar. Cut two medium onions into half rings, add five chopped cloves of garlic to them. Pour half a glass of olive oil, three tablespoons of vinegar, a sprig of rosemary, a little thyme, salt and pepper into the resulting composition. Marinate for about 12 hours.
With lemon . Pour half a liter of water into a medium saucepan, add a spoonful of sugar, two chopped onions, a lemon cut into 4 parts, a little laurel, herbs, cloves and salt. Boil the contents of the pan for a third of an hour, cool and place the lamb in it. The duration of marinating is 6 hours.
On kefir. Place two chopped onions, chopped parsley, cilantro, coriander and basil, and half a liter of kefir into a marinating bowl. Mix. Marinate for at least 10 hours.
With pomegranate juice. Combine a glass of pomegranate juice with 50 milliliters of vodka, add your favorite herbs and spices. Place the leg in the resulting mixture and marinate in a cool place for about 8 hours.
With cognac. In a small bowl, mix three tablespoons of good cognac, two tablespoons of lemon juice, five tablespoons of vegetable oil, a little salt, black pepper and a mixture of herbs. Coat the washed meat with marinade and wait 30 minutes.
On yogurt. Combine a glass of yogurt with two chopped cloves of garlic, two tablespoons of chopped mint leaves, a spoonful of red pepper and paprika. Spread the mixture on the leg of lamb and leave it in the cold for 12 hours.
On mineral water. Place the lamb in a suitable container, add three chopped onions, a little parsley and dill, black pepper, and salt. Pour two glasses of mineral water and leave in the refrigerator overnight.
With mustard. In a bowl, mix five tablespoons of olive oil, three tablespoons of mustard, chopped onion, several sprigs of rosemary, sliced lemon, salt and pepper. Soak the meat in the mixture for 8 hours.
With honey . Combine half a glass of honey with 100 milliliters of vegetable oil, the same amount of soy sauce, and two chopped cloves of garlic. Season with salt and ground pepper. Marinate for 4 hours.

The marinade recipes given are simple and do not require fancy or expensive ingredients. You will find the best mixture through practice. One thing I can say with confidence is that people who like to do things outdoors should take a closer look at these marinades.

Lamb is a dish far from being as exotic and pretentious as it seems to the average housewife from Nizhnevartovsk.

There has become too much European in our women, especially in recent years.

It's time to remember about eastern roots.

In the Caucasus, a skirt-wearer would never be allowed near such a treasure as a whole leg of lamb.

A Russian housewife can easily “make friends” with lamb meat if she knows some rules.

Choosing the right leg of lamb

Buying a fresh and high-quality cut of lamb for the upcoming dinner is the first, but not the easiest step. Especially for a woman, and especially for a Russian one.

Many housewives do not even realize that in the recipe they read from the Internet for a leg of lamb baked in a sleeve, we are not talking about a ram, an adult, well-fed animal, but about a miniature delicacy lamb.

In our market, an inexperienced buyer can be given anything, even a piece of mature, fattened cattle with a specific aroma.

Therefore, first you need to decide which leg you want to buy: a one-year-old lamb or a tender two-month-old lamb?

The youth of the meat is as important a parameter as its freshness.

You can distinguish a young lamb from an old one by the weight of the leg. Dairy lamb weighs about 2 kilos, and a leg of lamb from older carcasses weighs up to 5 kilos.

Pay attention to the color of the piece you purchase. The meat should not be dark or gray, and the fat should not be yellowish. Pink lamb with white lard in moderation is what you need.

By the way, it is very important not to get confused in the terminology, and not to buy an older piece of lamb because you do not want to cook from a dairy lamb. Believe me, the gender of the animal does not affect the taste.

It is better to buy lamb in a specialized department of the store, rather than at the market. And especially not spontaneously!

Cooking a leg of lamb, like any other meat, is not a lottery, so quality guarantees should not be ignored. The best option is a chilled piece of carcass, which retains all the juiciness and nutritional values, unlike meat “ice cream”.

Learning to process lamb meat

Cooking a leg of lamb begins with preparing the meat - inspecting and processing the leg.

Lamb is not chicken and cannot simply be washed before baking. Fat and layers must be removed immediately. Thoroughly cleaning a piece of everything unnecessary is not a whim of culinary specialists, but an important condition for eliminating the flavor of meat.

For this procedure, you need to prepare a sharpened cutting knife.

Taking the leg by the thin end, you need to insert the knife between the meat and the fat and gently turn the blade from side to side, peeling the fat from the lamb and gently tearing through the fat films.

After this, the fatty membrane can be easily torn off the ram’s leg with one strong tug.

If a leg of lamb recipe does not call for cutting the leg into pieces, you must be very careful not to damage the integrity of the piece when removing the fat from it.

The remaining fat layer is easily cut off with a knife, after which the piece is washed and dried for some time.

Marinate, rub or stuff a leg of lamb

Juicy lamb can be marinated, rubbed with spices, herbs, or stuffed with various spices, vegetables, etc. It all depends on your tastes and the instructions of the chosen recipe.

Lamb meat accepts a classic vinegar marinade (water, vinegar, spices), as well as many exotic options with honey, mustard, olive oil, and wine.

As a rule, a leg of lamb in a sleeve always requires marinade. If you want to fry and bake meat, then you can limit yourself to rubbing it with various spices.

You don’t have to be shy about gastronomic delights, experimenting with aromatic herbs, hot seasonings, and sweet dried fruits.

Some of the most traditional seasonings suitable for lamb include rosemary, basil, black and red pepper, as well as chili and paprika, bay leaf, ginger, cilantro, garlic and many others.

As a filling for a leg of lamb, you can use classic meat apples, prunes, hot or sweet peppers, carrots, garlic, as well as non-standard products: lard, berries and even anchovies.

How to cook leg of lamb in the oven

Before baking, a piece of lamb carcass is either fried in a frying pan or generously greased with sunflower oil. These manipulations are necessary to obtain an appetizing “tan” of meat.

I really like lamb and dishes made from it. You can cook lamb in different ways, but in this recipe I suggest baking a leg of lamb. It's not difficult, believe me! Read on to learn about some of the features of baking.

To bake a leg of lamb we will need:

Leg of lamb (whole) or its wide part - 1−1.5 kg
Carrots - 1 pc.
Garlic - 2-3 cloves
Herbs - I use thyme and oregano, a few sprigs of rosemary
Salt, pepper - to taste
Ready mustard - 1 tbsp. spoon (you can use mustard seeds in the form of peas)
Olive oil
Sleeve for baking

I marinate the lamb the day before so that the meat is tasty and tender. And I bake it in the sleeve already on the day of serving.

How to cook leg of lamb in a roasting sleeve

Wash the leg of lamb thoroughly, cut off unnecessary fat if you want to make it leaner (it can be used in cooking). We clean the carrots and cut them into cubes, 1.5-2 cm long. We peel the garlic and also cut them into small cubes. Next, using a knife, we make cuts in the meat with a depth the size of pieces of garlic and carrots. We will place carrots and garlic into these cuts. Make 15-20 cuts to stuff the leg of lamb. This is quite enough. And just cut the remaining pieces of garlic and carrots into cubes; we’ll just add them to the meat.
Next, prepare a simple marinade: mix oregano, thyme, 1 teaspoon of salt, pepper, mustard, add 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Mix everything thoroughly until smooth. Rub our leg of lamb with the resulting marinade, place it in a cup with a lid or wrap it in aluminum foil and marinate for a day (or at least 8-12 hours).
Before baking, place the leg of lamb in a baking sleeve and place 3-4 sprigs of rosemary around it. Carefully tie the edges of the sleeve or use special clips. Don't forget to make several cuts 1-1.5 cm long in the upper part of the sleeve so that the air can escape.
And we come to the main secret - how to properly bake a leg of lamb in the oven? This method was told to my friends by a meat seller at the market. The method turned out to be so wonderful that now we all use it to bake lamb. So, you need to preheat the oven to maximum, usually 250-270 degrees, depending on the model of your oven. Place our lamb in the oven (on a baking sheet) and bake for 1.5 hours, lowering the temperature by 10 degrees every 10 minutes. Thus, after 90 minutes the temperature will reach 180 degrees, and the leg of lamb will be juicy, tender and perfectly baked. 15-20 minutes before the end of cooking, you need to cut the sleeve at the top so that the lamb is browned. And now our leg of lamb, baked in a sleeve in the oven, is ready!

You can serve baked leg of lamb as a main course, for example, after a light meal.