Roast leg of lamb with garlic and rosemary

Probably the most iconic Greek roast dinner, a classic choice for Sunday lunch or Easter, lamb is the go-to crowd pleaser in most Greek homes. This is my grandmother’s version with tiny slits filled with garlic and rosemary to scent the meat that she called “folitses”, little nests.

To calculate roasting time, weigh the lamb and allow 15-20 minutes per 500 g, depending on how well done you like your lamb. Choose grassfed, pastured meat as much as you can as it really does make a difference in every aspect from the taste to the animals’ welfare and the environmental impact.

Ingredients

• 2,3 kg leg of lamb
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and cut in slivers
• small bunch of rosemary sprigs, separated
• 2 tbsp clarified butter or ghee
• salt & pepper
• 2 kg of potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

Preheat your oven to 230 C. Mix the garlic slivers, salt & pepper and rosemary sprigs in a bowl. Parboil the potatoes in salted water for 5′ and allow to dry in the colander. Rub the lamb with the butter and season. Make small incisions with a small sharp knife and insert a tiny sprig of rosemary and a sliver of garlic into each slit. Place in a large enough roasting tin to fit the potatoes and roast for 15 minutes.

Check that there is enough fat released in the tin from the lamb to cover the bottom and add a little olive oil if needed. Add the potatoes to the hot fat, season well and turn to coat well. Roast for a further 1 hour, basting the lamb occasionally. When done leave to rest in a warm place for 15 minutes before serving.