ANCHOVY AND ROSEMARY ROASTED LEG OF LAMB: AN ELEGANT AND SIMPLE DINNER

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

adapted from Gourmet Today edited by Ruth Reichl

“A properly seasoned and cooked roast is an elegant and simple dish to prepare, and something very valuable to know how to do confidently for feeding a large gathering of family or friends.”

Alice Waters, The Art of Simple Food

Of all the cooking methods, roasting demands the least from the cook. Please, repeat after me: SEASON; ROAST; CARVE; AND SERVE. A child could do it and so can you.

Roasting uses dry heat. While the outside of the food browns, the inside cooks slowly and remains tender and juicy. Cuts of meat with bones are suited particularly well to roasting. The bones add fantastic flavor. Think roast when you buy: whole chickens or cuts with skin and bones; bone-in pork and lamb shoulder; bone-in leg of lamb, rack of lamb, saddle of lamb; bone-in pork loin, and prime rib. When it’s done, all you have to do is carve it and put it on plates. SEASON; ROAST; CARVE; AND SERVE.

In this recipe, bone-in leg of lamb is marinated in a paste made from garlic, anchovy fillets, olive oil, and fresh rosemary. Making the marinade is just about all the work you have to do. Did you get that? Rub and bake – you are done. The reason a roast is not a trendy 30 minute meal is that the process is a slow one, and you need to be there. After you rub the marinade into the meat, let it sit at room temperature while you take care of business. You can get lots done. Put it into the oven and take care of more business while it roasts. After you take it out of the oven, let it sit while you call in the family to set the table. In my house, that takes some time. Carve and serve.

Roasting tips from Alice Waters:

Seasoning meat with salt 1-3 days before roasting keeps meat moist
Bringing the meat to room temperature ensures that it cooks evenly
The roasting pan should be just slightly larger than the roast
If you are not using a rack, turn meat in the middle of cooking to brown both sides
Use an instant read thermometer to determine when its done – lengthwise into the thickest part – take lamb out at medium rare,128 to medium, 138
Let the meat rest before cutting – it will finish cooking and the juices will be reabsorbed – 15-20 minutes
Make an easy sauce – remove meat; pour off extra fat; add about 1/4 cup wine and stir, scraping up browned bits; spoon over sliced meat

NOTE: The original recipe calls for roasting the lamb alone and then serving it with a salsa verde which is made from another batch of the marinade plus the addition of capers, parsley, mint and white wine vinegar. It sounds divine and easy, but I opted for a one-pot-meal. Just before the lamb went into the oven, I sliced onions and new potatoes and threw them into the pan to roast along with the lamb. As the lamb cooks, the vegetables are flavored with the fat. When it’s all done, the vegetables will have stuck to pan. That’s good. Just add about 1/4 cup of white wine and scrape the bits that are stuck to the pan. You now have your lamb, plus a fabulous side. Add a green vegetable, and your three bowls, and you are good to go.

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

9 anchovy fillets, patted dry and finely chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

2 1/2 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped

1 (6-7 lb) semiboneless leg of lab, trimmed of all but a thin layer of fat and tied

2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Note: this recipe calls for a whole bone-in leg of lamb which will serve 6-8 people. I asked my butcher for half of a leg, about 3 pounds. Other than adjust the cooking time, I used the amounts given for the whole leg.

1. MARINATE THE LAMB – In a small bowl, use the back of a large heavy knife to mash garlic and anchovies into a paste. Stir in the rosemary and olive oil. Pat lamb dry. Cut several slits in the lamb about 1-inch deep each. Place lamb on a rack in a roasting pan that is just large enough to hold it. I placed mine on a rack just to make room for the vegetables. You can roast it on a rack or not. Rub it all over with the anchovy paste pushing the paste down into the slits. Loosely cover and let sit at room temperature about 1- 11/2 hours. Alternatively, marinate the lamb in the refrigerator 4-5 hours and then let sit at room temperature 1 hour before roasting.

2. ROAST: Preheat oven to 400. Remove cover. Season lamb with salt and pepper. Roast until thermometer registers 128, about 1 1/2 – 1 3/4 hours.

3. LET STAND: Remove from oven and let stand 20-30 minutes.

4. CARVE AND SERVE: To carve the lamb, hold the leg by the bone in one hand with the bone up. With your other hand, slice lamb from top to bottom cutting almost parallel to the bone. Rotate the leg and slice top to bottom like this until all that is left is the bone.