I made this simple, classic lamb recipe for Easter and it came out great, so I thought I’d post it here for others to try.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup of shiraz
1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup of Dijon mustard
1/3 cup of dried rosemary
1/4 cup of dried oregano
2 Tbs of black peppercorns
2 Tbs of kosher salt sea
6 large cloves of garlic
5 – 7 pound boneless, butter-flied leg of lamb (I had my butcher prepare the meat for me)

Preparation
Emulsify the first eight ingredients in a food processor until the rosemary and peppercorns are finely chopped and well-integrated. Put the meat in a large, non-reactive pan, pour marinade over the meat and then cover with plastic wrap. Allow the lamb to marinate in the refrigerator for at least eight (or as much as 24) hours, turning occasionally.
The next day, remove meat from refrigerator and let stand for a couple of hours before grilling. Prepare a charcoal grill (or use your gas grill at medium heat). Cook on one side for 15 minutes, turn and cook for an additional 15 minutes, avoiding flare-ups as much as possible. Continue cooking to an internal temperature of about 130-135 degrees. Remove from heat and cover with foil. Allow meat to rest for about 10 minutes before slicing. Carve thin slices against the grain and pour any accumulated juices over the lamb before serving.

Served with the 2001 Henry’s Drive Shiraz Reserve, this dish was fantastic.

Thanks for the recipe!

Bottmfishr,

If you buy yourself a boning knife you'll find it very easy to debone the leg of lamb, and you'll be able to buy the meat significantly cheaper. I'd be lost without my boning knife now.

My variation on the recipe is to use a rub of Dijon Mustard (seedless), Worcesteshire sauce, extra virgin olive oil, rosemary, garlic and cracked black pepper. Roughly equal amounts of wet ingredients, I mix according to taste not volume so I can't give specific quantities. The cooking method is the same.

For the lazy person you can buy a jar of pesto sauce and coat the lamb in pesto and cook in the same manner.

The important thing with cooking lamb in this manner is to cut off the layer of fat that is normally left on the leg of lamb. The layer of fat is kept on to protect the meat whilst it is roasted, but because you have the marinade acting as a protective outer coating to stop the meat drying out you should remove the fat.

A recent leg of lamb recipe that has turned out superbly for me also involves a boned leg of lamb.
You bone the leg, or buy one already boned. In the internal pocket you liberally coat with a tomato based sauce, your call as to what exact ingredients you use for the tomato sauce. You then roll up the leg of lamb and surround the outside of the lamb with braches of rosemary. You basically want the entire outer surface to be rosemary.
Then roast the lamb in a barbecue or wood fired oven. It is very important to use a flame source (wood, charcaol or at a pinch gas) as you get a lovely smoky charred rosemary flavour infused on the outside of the meat.

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The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. -Herbert Spencer

This sounds awesome - I think I'll make it this weekend

This is a very timely topic for me. We are having some friends over for dinner Sunday and they are big lamb lovers (so am I). I was thinking about making the roasted leg of lamb dish that appears in the most recent WS (5/15/04, p71).

Has anyone prepared this dish? I was wondering how it would compare to the recipes posted. Those also sound great. thx.

bottmfishr - I made your lamb dish last night. It was excellent. Served it w/a 98 Guigal Chateauneuf that was equally good. Thanks again for the recipe!

bottmfishr: Tried recipe Sunday night with friends over. Excellent. I bought a New Zealand lamb roast at Sam's club that was tied in a net with one of those pop-up plastic things that let's you know when it's done (I've seen them on Butterball turkeys). Anyway, it worked great and lamb was mostly medium with one slice of medium rare in the middle. I cut off net before rubbing with spices and grilling. Took about 1 3/4 hours with gas grill at 350-370, indirect heat. Never turned the roast. Roast was about 4 lbs.