Long-roasted leg of lamb, heavenly good!

Leg of lamb

This recipe gives you very juicy and tasty meat. A little prepping at the start, but then you can leave the pots for approx. 7 hours.

Long-roasted leg of lamb

Making a long-roasted leg of lamb is easy, but to achieve the very best result it takes some time. You must start early in the morning, or the night before if you have the opportunity. Many people serve leg of lamb at Easter, but this product is available in the freezer almost all year round.

This year I had a frozen leg of lamb. I let it thaw for a day in the fridge before the next night I rubbed it in with an herbal marinade and put it all back in the fridge until the next morning.

Here I will explain to you step by step from when I started with the marinade, but first to the ingredients:

  • 1 leg of lamb
  • Fresh herbs, rosemary, thyme, basil, parsley (here you can use what you have or what you like best, but I like to mix several)
  • 2-4 cloves of garlic
  • 2 dl olive oil
  • 1-2 tablespoons ground pepper
  • 1-2 tablespoons of salt (don’t put this on before you put the leg of lamb in the oven)
  • 1 yellow onion
  • 3 carrots (+ what you need for side dishes)
  • 1 bell pepper
  • about 100 grams of celery root, a good bit. (+ what you need for accessories)
  • 7 dl water

Accessories:

  • Boiled potato or mashed potatoes
  • Mushroom
  • Root vegetables (carrot, celery root, parsnip, turnip, beet – here you can choose what you want)

Sauce:

1

When it comes to fresh herbs, you can mix many different ones, or only use, for example, rosemary or thyme. Either way, you should have at least 1 of these 2 for leg of lamb. I used about half a pot of these herbs: rosemary, thyme, parsley and basil. I also had a couple of tablespoons of chopped parsley.

various herbs

2

Mix this together and make a marinade with a hand blender:

  • Fresh herbs
  • about. dl olive oil
  • 1-2 tablespoons of pepper

– you must wait to salt until just before you put the leg of lamb in the oven

Set the oven to 225 degrees.

Herbs and oil that have been chopped with a stick blender

3

It is perfectly fine that the leg of lamb is not completely thawed, but it should be soft on the outside so that the marinade adheres. So at least semi-tint.

Place a couple of layers of plastic wrap over the counter, enough so that it can be wrapped around the entire thigh when you have finished applying the marinade.

Fresh leg of lamb

4

Spread the herb marinade well around the whole leg of lamb and wrap the plastic foil around the whole leg. Put this in a plastic bag (so that the bag doesn’t leak into the fridge) and let it all set in the fridge overnight. If you have a fresh or thawed leg of lamb, you can also do this the same morning and put it straight in the oven. You don’t have to keep it in the fridge overnight, but the flavors set extra well if you have time for it.

Leg of lamb rubbed with herb marinade and wrapped in plastic wrap

Tip: A tablespoon of sugar in the cooking water for the root vegetables makes the vegetables tastier, the sweetness highlights the naturally good flavours. By the way, did you know that mushrooms and herbs are best friends? Add an herb to your taste at the end of the cooking time for the mushrooms. In this case I used rosemary because I think it’s so good with lamb, but when I make steak I like to use tarragon. Absolutely magical! You can also use dried herbs here, they must not be fresh.

– Julianne Skovli Gåsvær | Eiendomsfinans Lillestrøm

5

It is perfectly fine that the leg of lamb is not completely thawed, but it should be soft on the outside so that the marinade adheres. So at least semi-tint.

Place a couple of layers of plastic wrap over the counter, enough so that it can be wrapped around the entire thigh when you have finished applying the marinade.

chopped root vegetables in shape

6

Now it’s time to add salt. Sprinkle salt evenly on the leg of lamb and put the whole form into the oven. Now it should be left at 225 degrees for 20-30 minutes, this to get a nice crust that locks in a lot of the good power so that the roast becomes juicy.

leg of lamb in the oven ready to roast

7

When the crust is golden and nice, turn down the heat to 70 degrees. Here you can vary from 65-85 degrees, it depends on how pink you want the meat to be when it is cooked. Leave the oven door open for about 5 minutes to quickly bring down the temperature. I choose 70 degrees, then it will be the right light pink for my taste. At this temperature, the leg of lamb can stay in the oven for a day if you want, the core temperature will not be higher than the temperature you have set the oven to. To get the effect of slow cooking, it must be left for a minimum of 8 hours.

Put the potatoes on the boil.

Take the leg of lamb out of the oven and place it in a new form, wrapped in aluminum foil.

Let the leg of lamb rest for approx. 30 minutes while you prepare the sauce, potatoes and side dishes.

If I can make a recommendation for wine, I would choose a wine with the grape Tempranillo or Nebbiolo. Today I have chosen Vina Tondonia Reserva 2007, item number 2176605 at Vinmonopolet.

carrot and celery root in sticks, fried mushrooms, brown sauce and a bottle of Vina Tondonia reserva 2007

8

Melt butter, add wheat flour and let this become chocolate brown over medium heat. Here you have to stir constantly so that the base of the brown sauce does not burn. The whole thing should get an even and nice chocolate brown colour.

Then you add the stock little by little, let it absorb into the milk mixture until you have the right consistency for the sauce.

Add a splash of cream (can be omitted) If you cannot tolerate wheat flour, you can just add cornstarch to the reduced power.

Leave the sauce on the lowest heat.

You can also use red wine sauce for this dish, then replace the veal stock with stock from the lamb roast.

9

Now you take out the vegetables to be used as a side dish.

Fry mushrooms in plenty of butter if you want mushrooms.

The root vegetables/beetroot: Boil these for about 4 minutes and strain off the water. Melt some butter in a frying pan and give the vegetables a good fry in the butter for 3 minutes.

Then all you have to do is cut up the meat, dander the accessories, pour into the glasses, sit at the table and simply feast 🙂 Enjoy!


I work as a marketing manager and financial adviser at Eiendomsfinans in Lillestrøm. On a daily basis, everyday life consists of a lot of mortgages and refinancing, but when the weekend comes I look forward to exploring new dishes and good recipes. From time to time I post my favorites on this page so that hopefully others can experience the same food pleasure as me 🙂

– Julianne Skovli Gåsvær – Eiendomfinans Lillestrøm