The back leg of lamb is baked. Fragrant leg of lamb baked in the oven in foil

12.08.2019 Buffet table

Lamb has always been considered an exquisite oriental dish. Recently, she has become accustomed to the western territories. It is easy to buy at butcher shops. Meet the heroine of this post, a leg of lamb baked in the oven.
Recipe content:

Of the entire carcass of a ram, it is the leg that has the least amount of fat, for this reason, for the first acquaintance with this type of meat, you should choose it. A baked leg of lamb in the oven can safely take center stage on the festive table. Usually this dish is always the main one, because they are not prepared every day, but only on special occasions. It looks beautiful, the aroma is amazing, the taste is amazing ... And at first glance it seems that it is extremely difficult to cook it and master the basics. But you just need to know a few tricks and subtleties, be in a cheerful mood and have enough free time.

How to cook a leg of lamb - subtleties and secrets

Cooking a leg of lamb will turn out to be a simple and even exciting business, if you follow all the subtleties and secrets. We figure out what you need to know in order to delight your home and guests with juicy and appetizing meat.

Ideal lamb meat with delicate meat fibers and no characteristic odor, that is, milk lamb. However, it is difficult to buy one, so look for an animal under 1.5 years old. It can be determined by the color of the fat: it should be light and elastic. Meat with yellow fat has a specific pungent odor that cannot be eliminated. Also pay attention to the delicate muscle fibers: they should be light red. The meat is brown and deep red - the animal is old. This is only suitable for minced meat.
Before cooking, wash the leg of lamb with hot water to remove any dirt that has stuck on it. Then cut off the maximum fat from the meat. But it is not recommended to completely remove it, it protects the drying of the dish. Therefore, leave it in a small, thin, even layer.
A culinary sleeve or foil will help keep the meat as juicy as possible. For the same purpose, do not puncture the meat for stuffing. Juice will flow out through these incisions.
You can bake the meat yourself, with various spices and seasonings, along with a side dish (potatoes, carrots, other vegetables, as well as fruits). Be guided by your own preferences.
When baking the legs, it is advisable to separate the bone from the lamb meat. To do this, place the leg on a cutting board with the meaty side down. Make several cuts along the pelvic bone, separating the meat from all sides. Starting at the thinnest end of the bone, carve out the meat up to the ball joint. Turn the bone out of the joint, cut the tendons, removing them.
The leg is being prepared depending on the weight. It is calculated as follows: 1 kg of the carcass is baked for 40 minutes, plus an additional 20 minutes for the whole piece. If there is a special culinary thermometer, a temperature probe, then install it in a thick part of the meat: the dish is cooked optimally if the temperature is 65 degrees. Focus on the following degrees of doneness: medium 54-57 ° C, medium-well 60-63 ° C, well-done 65-68 ° C.
If there is no meat thermometer, then determine readiness with a toothpick. Pierce a piece, clear juice of a light color should protrude from the puncture.
Do not rush to cut the finished meat immediately, leave it for 20 minutes so that the juices are evenly distributed inside. Then the dish will turn out to be perfectly tender and tasty.
When baked, the meat will release juice, which is very tasty. It can be used to make a sauce.
Serve the finished meat immediately after cooking, cutting it into thin slices. Otherwise, the fat will solidify and the dish will not be so appetizing.

We got acquainted with the main subtleties and secrets of cooking lamb leg, it's time to learn about the nuances of the marinade. Marinade is an important part of the cooking process and should not be neglected. The meat must be given time to soak well, then it will reveal its rich aroma and taste.

For the best baked lamb results, use spices and seasonings. Culinary practice shows that mustard, paprika, ginger, lemon juice, thyme and oregano perfectly improve the taste of lamb. Dry herbs are good for rubbing your feet. Rosemary will improve almost every recipe. This herb goes well with this meat. Experienced chefs recommend that you definitely add it when cooking fresh or dry.

In eastern countries, cinnamon and pine nuts are put in lamb dishes. You can also add basil, tarragon, sage, cardamom, sesame seeds, mint, marjoram. These spices go well with lamb. The Central Asian spice - cumin will help to kill the specific mutton smell; it gives a piquant spicy note.

It is important to use spices in the right proportions and in the right combinations to bring out the aroma and flavor of the meat. The length of time the meat is in the marinade depends on the age of the animal and the size of the piece. Below are some examples of marinade, recipes are calculated for 1 kg of meat.

Pass cumin, olive oil, rosemary, tomatoes, parsley, cilantro and onions through a blender or mince. Leave the meat in the mixture for 5-12 hours.
Combine a glass of vegetable oil, lemon juice, parsley, laurel leaves and peppercorns. Put chopped carrots and chopped onions into the mixture. Pour in 200 ml of white wine and stir. The duration of pickling is a day.
Chop two onions in half rings, add 5 chopped cloves of garlic, pour in half a glass of olive oil, 3 tbsp. vinegar, add a sprig of rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper. Marinate for 12 hours.
Pour 1 tsp into 500 ml of water. sugar, add 2 chopped onions, uncut lemon, laurel, herbs, salt and cloves. Cook the products for 20 minutes, cool and lower the lamb. Leave it on for 6 hours.
Combine 2 chopped onions with chopped parsley, cilantro, basil, coriander and 500 ml of kefir. Stir and marinate for 10 hours.
Mix 200 ml of pomegranate juice, 50 ml of vodka, herbs and spices and dip the meat into the composition. Marinate for 8 hours.
Combine 250 ml of yogurt with 2 cloves of garlic, 2 tsp. mint leaves, paprika and paprika. Coat the leg of lamb and leave for 12 hours.

The baked lamb leg even sounds festive. It will decorate New Year's holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, meetings, and any celebration. Appetizing crust, juicy pulp, aroma of herbs - the decoration of any meal. Bake the food observing all the subtleties, then guests and loved ones will definitely like an excellent edible gift.

Caloric content per 100 g - 231 kcal.
Servings - 2-3
Cooking time - about 7.5 hours, of which 3 hours marinating, 3.5 hours baking

Ingredients:

Leg of lamb - 1 pc.
Fresh rosemary - a couple of sprigs
Garlic - 3 cloves
Olive oil - 2 tablespoons
Salt - 1 tsp or to taste
Ground red and black pepper - a pinch
Cilantro seeds - 0.5 tsp
Sweet paprika - 1 tsp

As everyone has prepared, we proceed to the most important part of the culinary masterpiece!

Cooking leg of lamb in the oven step by step

Remove excess veins and films from lamb. Season with salt and pepper, rubbing the food into the lamb pulp.
Prepare the sauce by combining olive oil, cilantro seeds, garlic minced garlic, and rosemary.
Coat the leg of lamb with sauce and leave to marinate for 1-3 hours, but you can also keep it in the refrigerator for a day.
Place the marinated lamb in a baking bag, tie tightly on the sides to preserve all the juice, and send the lamb in a preheated oven to 130 ° C for 1.5 hours to warm up. Then in the oven, increase the temperature to 200 degrees and wait another 1-2 hours.

Leg of lamb in the sleeve is a wonderful combination of beauty, taste and aroma. Having put such a treat on the table, the dish will become a legendary meal, and Italian herbs with a spicy sauce will take care of it.

Ingredients:

Leg of lamb - 1.7-2 kg
Coarse salt - 1 tablespoon
Granular Dijon mustard - 2 tsp
Spices: rosemary, Provencal herbs, cumin - 0.5 tsp each.

Step-by-step cooking of the leg of lamb in the sleeve

Cut off excess fat, fat and film from the meat. Chop off unnecessary pieces.
Place all herbs in a mortar and grind.
Add salt and rub well.
Spread the mixture over the meat. After that, coat with mustard and put the piece in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours, but it is possible for a longer time.
Preheat the oven to 220 ° C. Put the lamb in a sleeve, place on a baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes. Then reduce the heat of the frypot to 180 ° C and bake for another 30 minutes.
Next, carefully cut the sleeve on top, pour the juice over the meat and continue baking for 20 minutes until golden brown.

Lamb is not a traditional dish in our country. Therefore, it appears on our tables very rarely. And when it is cooked, the preparation is a grand culinary event. Leg of lamb in foil is a non-standard dish that will allow everyone to cook for the next festive meal.

Ingredients:

Leg of a young lamb - 1 pc. weighing about 2 kg
Rosemary or thyme - a few sprigs
Mustard - 4-6 tablespoons
Olive oil - 2 tablespoons
Honey - 1 tablespoon
Lemon juice - 1 tablespoon
Garlic - 1 head

Cooking leg of lamb in foil step by step

Wash the lamb and pat dry with a paper towel.
Cut off excess fat from the leg, leaving a thin layer.
Prepare the marinade. Peel and chop the garlic.
Combine mustard, honey, lemon juice, olive oil, minced garlic, thyme or rosemary leaves.
Rub the ham with salt and freshly ground pepper, coat with marinade, cover with rosemary and wrap in foil. Put the piece in the refrigerator for a day.
Remove the meat from the refrigerator 2 hours before baking and let it come to room temperature.
Grease a baking sheet with olive oil and place the ham without the foil.
Heat the oven to 230 ° C and leave the lamb for 15 minutes to brown. Then reduce the temperature to 100 ° C, cover the ham with foil and bake for 3 hours. Then reduce the temperature to 90 ° C and cook for another 1.5 hours. But the specific baking time depends on the weight of the lamb.
Leave the finished ham without unfolding it in a warm place for 15 minutes, rest.

Leg of lamb in the oven - recipe with vegetables

For a recipe for baked lamb leg with vegetables, you can use all kinds of side dish combinations. For example, eggplants, tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchini, potatoes, carrots, etc. Baked lamb flavored with garlic and aromatic spices will be combined with any product, resulting in a real culinary delight.

Ingredients:

Hind leg of a young lamb - 1.5 kg
Garlic - 2 heads
Rosemary (fresh or dry) - 3 sprigs
Thyme - 1 tsp
Potatoes - 1kg.
Carrots - 2 pcs.
Bulb onions - 2 pcs.
Paprika - 1 tsp
Dry white wine - 100ml
Olive oil - 2 tablespoons
Salt, freshly ground pepper - 1 tsp each.

Cooking leg of lamb with vegetables step by step

Mash rosemary, thyme, freshly ground pepper and 1 garlic clove with salt.
Add olive oil and stir.
Wash the leg of lamb, dry it, cut off excess fat, leaving a thin layer, and rub with the resulting mixture.
Wrap it in foil and refrigerate for 2 hours. Then remove and leave to warm to room temperature.
Peel the onion and cut into halves.
Peel the potatoes, wash and cut the large tubers into halves or quarters.
Peel the carrots, rinse and cut into large pieces.
Place the vegetables in a bowl, add finely chopped garlic, rosemary and paprika. Season with salt, pepper and oil. Stir
Put the leg of lamb in a greased baking sheet, put the vegetables next to it and send the baking sheet in a preheated oven to 240 ° C for half an hour.
Then pour wine or broth into a baking sheet, cover with foil, reduce the oven temperature to 180 degrees and bake for 1.5 hours.

Video recipes:

I really like lamb and dishes from it. There are many ways to cook lamb, but in this recipe I suggest baking a leg of lamb. It's not difficult, believe me! Read about some of the baking features below.

To bake the leg of lamb, we 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-made mustard - 1 tbsp. spoon (you can use pea mustard seeds)
Olive oil
Sleeve for baking

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

How to cook a leg of lamb in a roasting sleeve

Thoroughly wash the leg of lamb, cut off unnecessary fat, if you want to make it faster (you can use it when cooking). Peel the carrots and cut into cubes, 1.5-2 cm long. Peel the garlic, also cut into small cubes. Next, using a knife, we make cuts in the meat with a depth of the size of pieces of garlic and carrots. In these cuts we will place the carrots and garlic. Make 15-20 cuts to fill the leg of the lamb. This is quite enough. And just cut the remaining pieces of garlic and carrots into cubes, we 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 send it to marinate for a day (or at least 8-12 hours).
Before baking, place the leg of lamb in the baking sleeve, spread 3-4 sprigs of rosemary around. We carefully tie the edges of the sleeves or use special clips. Be sure to make several 1-1.5 cm long cuts at the top of the sleeve to allow air to escape.
And we got 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 in the market. The method turned out to be so wonderful that now we all use it for roasting lamb. So, you need to preheat the oven to the maximum, usually 250-270 degrees, depending on the model of your oven. We place our lamb in the sleeve (on a baking sheet) in the oven 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, it is necessary 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 the baked leg of lamb as a main course, for example, after a light meal.

Lamb has always been considered a delight in oriental cuisine. Recently, this type of meat has begun to develop in the western territories. In the 21st century, it is easy to get such a variety in a butcher's 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 tender sauce, the undisputed leader among meat delicacies. At the same time, with vegetables, it boasts 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, will prepare a delicacy.

Ingredients:

Ram leg - 3 kg.
Potatoes - 10 pcs.
Carrots - 8 pcs.
Onions - 2 heads.
Celery - 6 pcs.
Garlic - 5 cloves.
Dry red wine.
Olive oil.
Flour, mustard, rosemary, pepper, salt, thyme.

Preparation:

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

Video preparation

Serve with sliced vegetables. Cut into thin slices at an acute angle, moving parallel to the bone. At the same time, do it in one motion with a sharp knife. Serve the sauce separately, and the lamb meat with vegetables, garnish with herbs.

Lamb leg in dough

Every chef strives to prepare delightful delicacies. 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 wedges.
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, laurel, pepper.

Preparation:

Combine flour with salt, chopped rosemary, whipped egg whites, and a small glass of water. After mixing, transfer the dough to a floured table and mix well. Then wrap in plastic and send to a cold place for an hour.
Grind parsley with rosemary, garlic and laurel with a blender and add sunflower oil with bread crumbs to the resulting mass. Naturally, mix everything.
Cut off the fat from the washed and dried leg, rub thoroughly with a mixture of salt and pepper, fry in a pan on both sides for fifteen minutes.
Roll out the cooled mass into a centimeter-thick layer, cut off a third part, and set aside. Put the leg greased with mustard on the dough, cover with the mixture prepared earlier, bend the edges up. Top with a cut piece of dough.
Cover with a layer of carefully beaten egg, transfer to a roasting pan, send to bake. At 200 degrees, it will take an hour and a half. Grease the finished dish with butter.

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

10 marinade recipes

The length of time the meat is in the marinade depends on its age. If the lamb is marinated correctly, 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 stood the test of time and proven to be effective.

With white wine. Add a glass of vegetable oil to a small container, pour in lemon juice, a little chopped parsley, add two leaves of laurel and two peas of allspice. Send carrots cut into rings and a few onions chopped in half rings into the mixture. Pour in a glass of white wine, stir, lower the leg of lamb. The duration of marinating is at least a day.
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 dip the lamb in it. Duration of pickling - 6 hours.
On kefir. Put two onions chopped into rings, chopped parsley, cilantro, coriander and basil, half a liter of kefir in a bowl for pickling. 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. Lower the leg into the resulting composition and marinate in a cool place for about 8 hours.
With cognac. In a small bowl, mix three tablespoons of good brandy, two tablespoons of lemon juice, five tablespoons of vegetable oil, a little salt, black pepper and a mixture of herbs. Grease the washed meat with marinade and wait 30 minutes.
On yoghurt. 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 lamb leg with the mixture and leave in the cold for 12 hours.
On mineral water. Dip the lamb into a suitable container, add three onions chopped into rings, a little parsley and dill, black pepper, salt. Pour in two glasses of mineral water, leave in the refrigerator overnight.
With mustard. In a bowl, combine five tablespoons of olive oil, three tablespoons of mustard, chopped onion, a few sprigs of rosemary, sliced lemon, salt and pepper. Leave 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, two chopped cloves of garlic. Season with salt, season with ground pepper. Marinate for 4 hours.

These marinade recipes are simple, do not require abstruse and expensive ingredients. You will find the best mix in a practical way. One thing I can say with confidence, these marinades should be looked at by people who like to do in nature.

Hello everyone! Today I want to give you an idea for a delicious festive and at the same time easy-to-cook two-in-one dish, and in a step-by-step photo recipe I will show you how to cook a leg of lamb in the oven baked in a sleeve with potatoes.

When I was visiting my mother, I saw her wonderful book of recipes for Italian cuisine, unfortunately, I don't remember what it was called. So, in this book there was a very interesting recipe for cooking a baked leg of lamb.

According to this recipe, it was necessary to tinker with the leg of lamb, carefully removing the pulp from the bone. Then grate it with spices and lard, place with tomatoes, onions and crushed head of garlic in a clay baking dish. In addition, during roasting, turn a piece of young lamb during roasting and pour over it with cognac or aged wine. The potatoes had to be fried separately in oil, in slices.

As always, I needed to cook a leg of lamb quickly and, if possible, immediately with a side dish, spending a minimum of effort on cooking and washing dishes. I give my recipe - an improvisation of cooking a baked leg of lamb with potatoes in the oven in a sleeve or baking bag. What I like about the baking sleeve is that the spray does not fly anywhere during frying and the meat dishes in it turn out to be very juicy.

For the recipe for baked lamb leg, I needed:

The leg of a young lamb,
Potatoes - 1 kg
Garlic - 2 cloves
Italian herbs (can be substituted with thyme or rosemary),
Salt,
Sour cream (mayonnaise, if someone cannot live without it) - 100 g,
Sleeve for baking.

Ask how much the leg of lamb weighed. I took the meat of a young lamb, if I removed the flesh from it, I would get a net weight without bone of about 1 kg, with bone and part of the sacrum, of course, the weight is more, about the same.

How to cook baked leg of lamb in the oven

Rinse the leg of lamb, dry it with a napkin. Note, I do not remove the pulp, but bake the lamb on the bone. The meat of a young lamb on the bone is juicier than without it.

Rub the lamb with salt and crushed garlic, sprinkle with dried herbs.

Peel the potatoes before baking, wash and cut into large wedges. Put chopped potatoes in a deep cup, season with salt, sprinkle and mix with sour cream or mayonnaise.

Cut the baking sleeve to the desired length, with a margin for tying the ends. If you don't have bags or sleeves to bake a leg of lamb, you can wrap it in foil.

Tie one end of the sleeve with a ribbon or wire that comes with the kit, put a leg of lamb in it, and put potatoes on top with pieces in spices and sour cream. Now tie the other end and place the lamb's leg on the baking sheet.

Bake the leg of lamb immediately with a side dish of potatoes in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 45 minutes, then cut the sleeve (carefully with hot steam!) And let the potatoes brown with meat, 15 minutes.

2014-11-07

Oven-baked leg of lamb sounds absolutely magical and festive. The approaching New Year, despite all the efforts of Mankind to push into the background the joys of being, still modestly but persistently, reminds of itself with the scent of tangerine and subtle hints from beautiful ladies that “there is nothing to wear”, and - at all! And Winter is coming! Well, well, in today's program we have a leg of lamb baked in the oven!

I would like to invite my dear readers today to plunge into pleasant New Year's chores - without haste and fuss, choose a "crown" dish for the festive table. My advice: "Prepare a roasted leg of lamb!" I promise that your loved ones will reconsider their attitude towards lamb after this! Leg of lamb - with the aroma of herbs, an appetizing crust, oozing pulp, baked in the oven to the desired condition, will become a decoration of the meal. If you prepare this dish, observing all the subtleties and technologies, then it will be the best New Year's gift for your family and friends. It's worth a little tinkering for this!

Preparing a leg of lamb in the oven after some preliminary manipulations will not be difficult and will not take much time (I mean "active" cooking). The main task, on the solution of which the taste of the finished dish depends, is to choose this very leg of lamb. I give a kind of memo. So that the leg of lamb baked in the oven does not disappoint you and your guests, you should pay attention to the following:

Oven-baked leg of lamb: requirements, preparation, marinades, how to cook

meat of young animals is suitable for roasting. The concept of "young" in this case is quite loose. It will not be possible to buy fresh lamb (lamb meat 2-6 months old) or young farmed mutton (6-8 months old) in winter in the Northern Hemisphere. We must be prepared for the fact that the acquired leg of lamb will have an "age" of one to two years. Such lamb is light pink in color, with a characteristic, but pleasant and not pungent smell, fat is not spreading, hard, but slightly malleable, like wax, bones are porous, reddish on a cut, without sharp split edges.
if you absolutely want milk lamb, then look for New Zealand or Australian. My opinion is not worth it, because it is expensive.
my preference is the leg of a young lamb, weighing 2-2.5 kg with bone.
the thin waxy cap covering the young leg of lamb is not removed.
do not cut off the thin layer of fat under this film - thanks to it, the leg of lamb will remain juicy when baked.
from a leg of lamb weighing 3 -3.5 kg with bone, it is still better to remove the film and fat (more mature meat has a pronounced lamb smell, which repels many).
under the leg of lamb, we mean the hind leg.

If you want to cook boneless lamb in the oven, you need to ask the butcher to remove the bones or do it yourself. The roasted leg of lamb will be easier to cut into portions if the bones are removed beforehand.

How to cook

To the question: "How to cook a leg of lamb baked in the oven?" - I usually give a laconic answer: "Tasty!" After all, this is the most important thing! There are many recipes for making lamb leg. Most often it is cooked baked in the oven. Sometimes the meat is fried in a pan before baking so that a golden crust appears immediately; in other recipes, the prepared leg is placed directly in a heated oven.

If the lamb is too lean, then the leg can be overlaid with layers of thinly sliced bacon, salted or smoked bacon. Sometimes they simply stuff the leg with pieces of bacon or bacon. Oven-baked lamb leg is very good, stuffed with anchovies - at first the combination of tastes seems unusual, but over time it starts to like it and even very much! I spied this technique some time ago from Nika Belotserkovskaya.
The baking temperature ranges from 100 ° C to 200 ° C. The baking time depends on the size of the piece and the temperature. The greater the mass of the leg of lamb and the lower the baking temperature, the longer the time spent in the oven.
The leg of lamb is baked "by itself", in foil, in the sleeve. At the same time, a side dish is sometimes baked (potatoes, for example, or onions, bell peppers, a thickened part of fennel, tomatoes in the skin). Sometimes a sauce is prepared along with the leg in the oven (from tomatoes, onions and peppers, for example).
The herbs that I think are most suitable in lamb are thyme, basil, savory, mint, sage. Experts also recommend rosemary, but I myself am not very fond of its aroma. My favorites are savory and thyme. The lamb-garlic "duet" is considered a classic. In any case, you will have to choose "companions" for the leg of lamb, listening to your own preferences. Roman leg of lamb (breaded with white breadcrumbs) baked in the oven is generally cooked with dill and parsley - it turns out unusually fragrant, tender and fresh!

Oven marinades for lamb

White wine, curry, crushed garlic, mint, olive oil, salt.
Red wine, crushed garlic, basil and thyme or savory, olive oil, salt.
Balsamic vinegar, crushed garlic, mint, rosemary, olive oil, salt.
Natural yogurt, a few grains of cardamom (don't overdo it!), Salt (I call this marinade "Bedouin").

The base of the above marinades is olive oil. The rest of the ingredients are supplements. Experiment, guided by the rule of "Just in moderation!"

Internal temperature table for different degrees of doneness of oven-baked mutton

Very juicy, with a moist pink center and blood, only warm inside ≈ 53 ° С
Sufficiently juicy, with a pinkish middle ≈ 57 ° С
Pretty juicy, pinkish inside ≈ 63 ° С
A little juicy, brownish-pink inside, completely baked, hot inside ≈ 67 ° С
Dryish, dirty-pink-light, perfectly baked ≈ 71 ° С and above

In order to measure the internal temperature, you must use a special meat thermometer or an electronic thermometer with a probe. The thermometer should be inserted into the thickest part of the piece without touching the bone. In France and Italy, 1-3 degrees of readiness are most preferable, and in our "Palestinians" - 4-5. If you are not sure what degree of readiness your guests prefer, it is better to ask them in advance.

Based on the foregoing, to the question: "How to cook a leg of lamb baked in the oven, you can still answer this way:" Observing the cooking technology. "

Ingredients

In our family, it is customary to call this dish “Roasted leg of lamb in Roman style”. My late father-in-law once read a recipe in an old Italian cookbook.

We will need:

Leg of lamb 2.5 kg with bone.
White bread rusks 1 cup, about 250 ml.
Olive oil 200 ml.
Parsley greens 3 tablespoons.
Dill greens 3 tablespoons.

Butchering a leg of lamb

Remove all bones from the leg of lamb, except for the tibia.

Prepare marinade # 1 or # 2, place the meat in the marinade for a day,

and it is better for two or three.

Shaping, preparing for baking, baking

After this time, we take out the leg from the marinade. Sew up the hole with thin strong threads.

Grease the leg of lamb liberally with olive oil. With a generous hand, sprinkle the meat with white breadcrumbs (not small, made with your own hands),

mixed with chopped herbs, press the crackers properly to the surface of the lamb, pour olive oil on top and press the crackers again. Place on a baking sheet greased with olive oil, seam side down. It turns out that's such beauty.

We send the leg of lamb into the oven preheated to 200C. Those who like completely fried meat - for 2-2.5 hours, those who prefer completely pink or pink meat - for 1-1.5 hours. In the presence of a thermometer, we are guided by the recommendation for the degree of readiness given above.

Serve and chop the cooked leg of lamb baked in the oven conveniently on a thick board. We put a papillote on the bone or simply wrap it with a napkin,

holding by the bone, cut into neat slices. It was not possible to photograph this process - at first I cut a baked leg of lamb, and the guests were fascinated by the process, and then the meat was swept away at such a speed that I did not have time to recover. I just "clicked" just before cutting. Sorry for the quality of the photo. This is a baked leg of lamb in Roman style, surrounded by cocotte makers with julienne.

My reader Alena from Moscow sent a photo of a leg of lamb she had prepared in Roman. Looks great!

Leg of lamb in the oven with potatoes

Leg of lamb 2.5 kg

Bacon 350 grams

Potatoes 2.5 kg

Savory sprigs, thyme

Olive oil 70 ml

Marinate the leg of lamb (marinade No. 1-No. 2) for a day, then fry in a saucepan on all sides until a firm crust appears in 40-50 ml of olive oil. This will take approximately 20 minutes. Sprinkle the leg of lamb with chopped herbs. Cut the bacon into slices, cover the whole ham with them, put it in a large baking dish.

Wash the potatoes, peel, cut into large slices, blanch in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Put the prepared potatoes around the leg of lamb, pour in the remaining olive oil, cover the dishes with a fireproof lid. First, the leg of lamb with potatoes is baked in an oven preheated to 200 ° C for about an hour, then remove the lid. Next, a leg of lamb with potatoes, cook in the oven for another 1 hour (for well-baked meat) or until the desired degree of readiness). Leg of lamb in the oven with potatoes is usually served in the same dish in which it was baked.

Leg of lamb in foil

Leg of lamb 2.5 kg

Bacon 250-300 grams

Leg of lamb in foil is a dish that will give you a minimum of hassle. Place the leg in marinade # 1 or # 2 for at least a day. Cut the bacon into rather thin slices, cover the surface of the leg of lamb with bacon, wrap the meat in two layers of foil. Place the leg of lamb in foil in an oven preheated to 200 ° C. After half an hour, lower the oven temperature to 180 ° C. After 1.5 hours, cut the foil, unfold the meat and bake for another 30 minutes without foil, pouring over the juice. Leg of lamb in foil, extraordinarily good with boiled rice.

Leg of lamb in sleeve

Leg of lamb in the sleeve - one of the options for a "lazy" hot dish for a holiday. Indeed, with this cooking technology, for some time there is no need to water the meat with juice, and you can do something else in the kitchen.

Leg of lamb 2-2.5 kg with bone

Bow 2 large heads

Carrots 3 medium pieces

Garlic 5-6 cloves

Olive oil 50 ml

Marinate the leg in any of the marinades. Peel the onions and cut into 4 parts, peel the carrots and cut into thick bars, peel the garlic. Fry vegetables in olive oil. Put the leg of lamb in the sleeve, send vegetables there, tie the sleeve and place it in a baking dish or baking sheet. Bake in an oven preheated to 200 ° C for half an hour, reduce the heat to 180 ° C and bake for another hour and a half, cut the sleeve. Bake for another 30 minutes, pouring the juice over it all the time. For lovers of pink meat - we focus on the temperature inside the piece! The leg of lamb baked in the sleeve gives free rein to your imagination - you can add blanched potatoes, fennel, cherry tomatoes, quince slices, raisins, dried apricots to the sleeve.

My side notes

The marinade should be rubbed into the pulp as it should.
In the process of marinating, massage the meat so that the marinade is slightly absorbed into the meat.
For all the above recipes, you can cook lamb with the bone or remove the bones. A boneless leg of lamb can be stuffed with kidneys, mushrooms, cheese, spicy herbs, raisins, prunes, dried apricots, ground nuts, chestnut paste.
Don't overdo it with spices. Good meat only needs to emphasize its merits, but the disadvantages of bad meat cannot be “drowned out” with spices!
It should be remembered that the success of a dish depends to a much greater extent on the quality of the raw materials and compliance with cooking technologies than on a specific one. Excellent quality lamb leg that you simply bake with a minimum of suitable spices until golden brown and tender flesh will always be a success!

Baked leg of lamb is a dish that has a huge advantage in the pre-holiday bustle. It can be prepared in advance, even a few days before serving. Before the guests arrive, the leg just needs to be warmed up in the oven.

And for dessert today we have a favorite song from a past life - Abba - Happy New Year.