Roast lamb

Little can be said about roast lamb that has not already been said, a true delicacy and one of the star dishes in Spanish gastronomy, typical from the region of Castilla y León. The recipe for roast lamb is extremely easy, all you need is good ingredients, an oven and, if possible, a good clay casserole dish or tray. A little patience will also be needed, since, despite being a very easy dish to make, roast lamb takes about two hours to cook.

How to make roast lamb:

1. Preheat the oven at 480ºF, top and bottom for 15 minutes. The oven must be very hot when putting the lamb in.
2. Make some superficial cuts in the thicker areas of the lamb meat, so that they cook evenly with the rest of the piece..
3. In a mortar, crush two cloves of garlic with salt, pepper, a Rosemary twig and 50ml (about four tablespoons) of Spanish EVOO. Cover and spread this mixture on both sides of the meat.
4. It is important that the meat does not touch the bottom directly so that it does not overcook. To prevent this from happening, place two crossed wooden spoons, a grid or something similar, on the bottom of a pan. This way the lamb will stay slightly raised.
5. Place the meat with the skin facing down and add a glass of water directly to the bottom of the clay casserole dish.
6. Put the casserole with the lamb in the oven and lower the temperature to about 320ºF. Roast at that temperature for 1 hour.
7. During this hour, when the lamb is juicing, hydrate the meat every 10 minutes. To do this, simply take the juices from the bottom of the pan with a spoon and pour them over the meat.
8. After one hour, turn the lamb over so that the skin side faces upwards and raise the oven temperature up to 350ºF. Pour some of the sauce over the skin, too.
9. Once the skin looks crispy, the lamb is ready.
10. Very important: keep the sauce from the bottom of the pot to serve it next to the meat, it has an incredible flavor!

This is how you can prepare roast lamb. Keep in mind that the larger and thicker the piece of meat, the longer it will need to be in the oven to be properly cooked. For the sides, here is a roasted rosemary potatoes recipe that matches perfectly, Enjoy!