How to Cook Roast Lamb with a Mint Pistachio Pesto
Delicious and Easy Roasted Leg of Lamb with Mint PIstachio Pesto for an elegant dinner.
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time1 hourhr30 minutesmins
Total Time1 hourhr40 minutesmins
Course: Entree
Cuisine: American
Servings: 8
Author: Angela Roberts
Ingredients
Boneless Leg of Lamb
2tablespoonsfresh rosemaryyou may use more if fresh
2tablespoonsolive oil
2tablespoonsdijon mustard
lemon zest from half lemon
4clovesgarlic
1teaspoonsea salt
freshly grounded black pepper
Mint Pistachio Pesto
1/3cuproasted salted shelled pistachios
1/2cupextra virgin olive oil
2tablespoonsfresh lemon juice
lemon zest from half lemon
1clovegarlic
1cupbig handful flat Italian parsley
1cupbig handful fresh mint (see notes)
1/2teaspoonsea salt
1/2teaspoonblack pepper
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Have ready a roasting pan with a rack.
If you purchase a leg of lamb wrapped in a net, it is already likely properly trimmed. Sometimes the net is oven safe. I always remove and retie.
If the leg of lamb still has the fell, a papery membrane, it must be trimmed off.
Retie lamb with butcher's twine.
Using a pairing knife, make sharp inserts about 1/2 long, all over the lamb. I will usually do this through the netting, but it doesn't matter.
Make lamb rub. Chop garlic, rosemary together. Mix with dijon mustard, lemon zest, olive oil.
Season lamb with salt and pepper all over.
Put the rub all over the lamb.
Put lamb onto rack on roasting pan. I
If you don't have a rack, just place on shallow baking pan, such as a large cast iron pan.
Roast till internal temperature reaches 130 degrees F. for medium rare in center. The pieces on the outside will be medium.
It will be approximately 20 minutes per pound.
Check the lamb at 60 minutes. If its getting too brown, loosely place a piece of foil over lamb.
Make Mint PIstachio Pesto
Chop garlic.
Put all ingredients for pesto into blender or food processor, until you get the texture you want.
If you want it chunky, a food processor works better. If you want it smoother, use a Vitamix type blender and add a tablespoon of softened butter at the end.
Notes
If you don't have a lot of fresh mint from a garden, buy one package and offset with more parsley if need be.