Herb and Honey Mustard Crusted Leg of Lamb

I must share this awesome recipe for roasted lamb!!! I made this for our dinner guests this past weekend and it was a huge success and the star of the show!  The lamb was perfectly cooked (which is imperative) but the marinade/glaze recipe I used made it out of this world... simply spectacular :-)  I am drooling just thinking about how yummy it was... thank goodness it made enough for leftovers!

Here is the recipe, which came from my latest issue of Food & Wine magazine:

Herb-and-Honey-Mustard-Crusted Leg of Lamb

Ingredients:
One boneless 7-8 lb leg of lamb (mine was about 5 lbs)
1/2 cup fresh rosemary
1 tsp. dried thyme
3 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard (I had to substitute spicy mustard)
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup lavender honey (I used locally sourced clover honey)
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 500°F.

In a food processor, pulse the herbs, garlic, and spices until minced.  Add the mustard, evoo, and honey and pulse to blend. Season with salt and pepper.

On a work surface, open up the leg of lamb like a book and season generously with salt and pepper.  Rub 1 tablespoon of the marinade onto the inside of the meat.

Roll up the lamb and tie with kitchen twine at 1-inch intervals.  Season the outside of the lamb with salt and rub with the remaining marinade.

Place into a roasting pan and place in preheated oven, turning the heat down to 375° F.

Cook until the center of the roast registers 130° F - about 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Remove from oven, cover loosely with foil, and let rest for 15 minutes.

Slice into 3/4 inch think slices and serve with the pan drippings.

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In truth, we dug into this lamb faster than I could snap a picture!  It smelled magical, and was so flavorful and juicy.  Don't fear the fat... that fat cap just melted and caramelized on the outside of the meat and formed a delicious crust.  I have experienced horrible lamb (which is the worst meal I have ever eaten, no joke!) good lamb, and now, thanks to this recipe, FABULOUS lamb :-)

Note: If you belong to Costco, they carry this boneless leg of lamb, and it cost about $13.00.  And get this, it was already pre-sliced to open like a book, so all I had to do was unroll it, rub it, roll it back up and tie it... and when the tying is the "hardest" part, you know just about anyone can master this great recipe.

Lamb... it's what should be for dinner :-)  Definitely give this one a try!

Librarian turned Foodie