Roasted Leg of Lamb – Helstekt lammelår

This recipe is a classic Norwegian dish; a slowly roasted leg of lamb served with creamed and gratinated potatoes and vegetables. 

Ingredients (generous servings, enough for ca. 8-10 people):  

• 1 leg of lamb (ca. 4 kg, with the bone)
• 7-8 cloves of garlic (5 for the lamb, 2-3 for the potatoes)
• Rosemary (preferably fresh, but dried will do in a pinch)
• 1 onion
• Potatoes (sliced, about 2 – 2 1/2 kg / 4.5-5.5 lbs, enough to fill a big ovenproof dish)
• About 1 liter / 1 quart heavy whipping cream (enough to cover the potatoes)
• About 100 – 200 g / 3.5-7.0 oz. shredded cheese (enough to cover the potatoes)
• Mixed raw vegetables (for example carrots, sugar snaps, cauliflower, broccoli…)
• salt
• pepper
• 2-3 Tbsp butter
• 2-3 Tbsp flour  

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Norsk:  

• ett lammelår (ca. 4 kg)  
• 7-8 fedd hvitløk  
• rosmarin (helst fersk, men tørket går det også)  
• 1 løk  
• poteter (omtrent 2 – 2 1/2 kg) 
• ca. 1 liter fløte (nok til å dekke potetene) 
• ca. 100-200 g riflet ost (nok til å dekke potetene) 
• grønnsaker (f.eks. gulrøtter, sukkererter, blomkål, brokkoli…)  
• salt
• pepper
• 2-3 ss smør
• 2-3 ss mel  

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Start by making small incisions into the lamb with a knife and then stuff half a clove of garlic into each incision.  

Season the lamb generously with salt, pepper and rosemary. Add water, a coarsely chopped onion and a carrot to a large, deep pan. This will make a lovely stock for the sauce, so make sure to not throw any of it out!  

Plop the leg in the middle of it and stick a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh.

If you´re kind of in a hurry, you can turn your oven on at 170 degrees Celsius / 340 degrees Fahrenheit and bake until the meat thermometer reads 70 degrees Celsius / 160 degrees Fahrenheit (for pink meat) or 76 degrees Celsius / 170 degrees Fahrenheit for meat that is more done. This will probably take approximately two hours. If you have a bit more time, the leg gets even better and more juicy if it is cooked slowly; about 3-4 hours at 115 degrees Celsius / 240 degrees Fahrenheit.  

For the potatoes, there is a little trick. The normal way to do this would be to fill the pan with the sliced potatoes, pour over the cream and mix in a couple of pressed garlic cloves. Bake in the oven until the potatoes are tender (this takes a little while…), adding cheese toward the end of the baking time.   

But; since the oven is occupied, boil the peeled and sliced potatoes (about half a centimeter thick slices) in heavy cream (enough to cover the potatoes) and 2-3 cloves of pressed garlic in a pot (instead of the dish). Once the potatoes are tender, move the potatoes into an ovenproof dish and cover with shredded cheese. Once the leg is done, it will need to rest for a little while. This is a good time to gratinate the potatoes. Turn up the heat to about 225 degrees Celsius / 440 degrees Fahrenheit and bake until the cheese is melted and starting to golden. This is also a good time to prepare the vegetables. Simply boil or steam them until tender or tender-crisp. 

Not all people make gravy with this dish since the lamb is already accompanied by the decadent, creamy, cheesy potatoes.   

First, make a brown roux. Start by measuring equal amounts of butter and flour, about 2-3 Tablespoons of each. Melt the butter before adding the flour. Keep stirring and let this sizzle until it is dark in color. And this was the brown roux. Easy!

Next, pour in juices from the pan where the leg of lamb has been cooked, and whisk little by little, until you get an even sauce of your preferred viscosity.   

Don’t be afraid to mash the potatoes a bit. Slice the lamb and serve with potatoes, gravy and vegetables.

Source:
Silverspoonsandplasticforks