"Whether in pastry like the well-known ""lamala"", cooked in the oven or on a spit, lamb has strong associations with Easter."
It is no secret that lamb is a traditional dish at Easter, and it is of course because it is particularly abundant at this time of year.
On Easter Sunday, in keeping with this gastronomic tradition, lamb is enjoyed at the table.
To cook is simply and ensure the best taste, there are several options available to you.
Spit roasted leg of lamb
1 boned leg of lamb weighing 1.8 kg
2 soup spoons of oil
1 clove of garlic
1/2 onion
1 teaspoon of strong paprika
2 pinches of thyme flower or a sprig of rosemary
salt and pepper
10 cl of red wine
1 smooth natural yoghurt
5 pinches of chopped parsley, taragon and mint
Preparation
Have your butcher bone the leg or do it yourself if you have the necessary talent.
Crush the garlic, chop the onion and mix them with the pepper, salt, thyme and paprika.
Rub the leg with this mixture.
Skewer the meat.
Coat it with oil and begin cooking, not forgetting to place a drip tray below the spit.
While it cooks, regularly coat the leg with the remaining oil.
Just before the end of the cooking process, sprinkle the leg with the wine.
Put the contents of the drip tray in a small saucepan, add the chopped herbs and the yoghurt and mix well.
Heat without bringing to the boil. It´s ready!
Leg of lamb with vegetables
1 leg of lamb weighing 1.5 kg
1 onion
2 carrots
2 cloves of pink garlic
1 stick of celery
200 g of cherry tomatoes
freshly chopped parsley and oregano
fresh rosemary
extra virgin olive oil
black Sarawak pepper
Sous-vide preparation
Cooked sous vide and with the grease removed, a leg of lamb becomes extremely tender and light. All of the flavours of the meat and aromatic herbs will be present.
Eliminate all the fat from the leg and rub it with salt and pepper. Vacuum seal it with garlic, rosemary, fresh oregano and the finely chopped vegetables. Leave to cook for 8 hours at 68 °C in your sous vide cooker.
Cut the tomatoes in two, remove the seeds and add salt to remove the water by placing them in a strainer.
Once the cooking is complete, open the bag and recover all the cooking juices and the vegetables and put them in a pan.
At this stage, your leg of lamb is cooked inside, but it needs to be browned. Pre-heat the oven to 200 °C and place it in the oven in an oven dish with a few sprigs of rosemary. Leave it to brown for around ten minutes, turning once.
Heat the pan, add the tomatoes and reduce until the liquid has evaporated. Sprinkle with parsley and rectify the salt.
Serve the leg of lamb in slices with the pan-cooked vegetables and ground pepper.
Tip
The leg bone can be sharp, and with the pressure in the vacuum, it could damage the bad. Wrap the end of the bone with a piece of thick fat to protect the bag and eliminate any risks.
Oven preparation
If you do not have a sous vide cooker, you will not get the same result, but working with low temperatures still makes sense. This is not a new idea. It is the age-old recipe for shoulder, leg or for roasted potatoes that the baker would cook once the bread was finished. Not hot enough to cook bread, but
perfect for slow cooking at low temperatures: we haven´t invented anything!
Preheat the oven to 220°C. Add salt and pepper and baste the leg with olive oil. Stick the probe of your thermometer into the meat without touching the bone.
Once in the oven, set the thermostat to 80°C.
In 3 - 3½ hours, you should have reached 68°C at the core.
Check on the meat regularly and lower the oven temperature to 60°C to keep it warm and cover the leg with a sheet of aluminium foil to avoid the meat drying out.
Bon appétit!
