How to Cook Provencal Lamb
Serves: 8
Preparation time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 1 hour 30 mins
Ingredients needed to make Provencal Lamb:
- 7 lb bone-in leg of lamb, fat trimmed off and tied
- 1 large Spanish onion, sliced
- 9 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 3 lb ripe tomatoes, cored and diced
- 1 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
- 2 fresh rosemary sprigs
- 4 fresh thyme sprigs
- ½ cup honey
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- ½ cup Dijon mustard
- ½ cup olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Cooking instructions for Provencal Lamb:
- Warm up your oven to 450 degrees F.
- Place the lamb leg on a roasting pan, with its fattier side facing up.
- Blot it dry with paper towels and set aside.
- Pour in the balsamic vinegar into a blender, along with the mustard, chopped rosemary, a tbsp each of garlic and salt plus /2 tsp ground black pepper.
- Pulse them into a smooth paste and rub it all over the leg of lamb until well coated with the blend.
- Place the tomatoes, onions and 2 tbsp garlic in a bowl, along with half of the honey,2 tsp pepper as well as 2 tbsp salt and toss them all together until well combined.
- Spread the above mixture all over the lamb and tuck the fresh herb sprigs into the lamb and drizzle rest of the honey all over it.
- Roast the leg of lamb for about 20 minutes and readjust the temperature setting of the oven to 250 degrees F.
- Continue to roast for another 1 ¼ hours or until the internal temperature of the meat rises to 135 degrees F.
- Transfer the roasted meat to a cutting board and place an aluminum foil loosely over it.
- Set aside for about 15 minutes or until cool enough to handle.
- Meanwhile, throw away the sprigs and roast the tomato mixture further in the oven at the slowest temperature setting to keep warm.
- Carve out thick slices from the lamb and place them on serving plates.
- Season with a dash of salt as well as fair amount of black pepper and arrange the tomatoes over each serving.
- Drizzle the cooking liquid on top and serve warm.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
