Boneless Leg of Lamb with a Ras El Hanout Marinade

I made this whole roasted leg of lamb almost a month ago but until now I just didn’t get a chance to write the recipe down. The winter break this time was overly busy in my household – the kids were back from college and that meant quite a bit more action at home. We had lots of friends visiting and also I took a whirlwind trip to India with my twenty years old son (will write about some of the most delicious meals I had during my travels in successive blog posts. The food scene is India sure is exploding these days). I served this leg of lamb when my friend Judy and her husband, Frank came over for dinner just past Christmas. Back then, I had posted a few pictures of the whole roasted leg of lamb on the facebook page and got several requests for the recipe, so here goes…

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Ingredients:

1. One whole boneless leg of lamb (I got mine from Costco and it was Australian lamb)
2. One red onion
3. 7-8 large cloves of garlic
4. 1.5 tablespoons of pomegranate syrup
5. 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
6. A few springs of fresh rosemary
7. Two small clementine or one large orange
8. 1.5 tablespoons of Ras El Hanout spice blend (I got mine from William Sonoma)
9. 1.5 teaspoons of salt (or to taste)
10. 0.5 teaspoons of freshly grated pepper (or to taste)
11. A pinch of red pepper flakes

Directions:

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1. Mix all the dry spices (ras el hanout, red pepper flakes, ground pepper) and salt and set this mixture aside.

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2. Peel and finely dice the red onion.

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3. Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves.

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4. Zest the clementine/orange (use a micro-plane or a zester).
5. Take the rosemary leaves off their stems and then finely chop them into small pieces.
6. In a medium sized sauce pan, pour the olive oil and heat on low heat.

7. When the oil is hot, add the diced up onion and the garlic and continue cooking on low heat (stirring frequently). We just need to lightly caramelize the onion bits – this should take about 4-5 minutes.

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8. Then add the chopped up rosemary leaves to the pan and stir. Also add dry spice mixture to the oil and stir. The heated oil wakes up the ground spices. After 30 seconds switch off the heat.

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9. Add the zest to the pan and also the pomegranate syrup and stir everything together. Sometimes I also add the juice of the orange to the mixture (it makes the lamb more juicy – but this is an entirely optional step). This is the marinade mixture.

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10. Open up the piece of boneless leg of lamb and where ever you can, open up the fleshy parts by slicing that part of the meat. Make sure you don’t dismember or cut off any piece of the meat. Where ever the meat is too thick and cannot be opened up, make a thin sliver into it so that a small pocket is made in the meat and the spice mixture can be stuffed into it.

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11. Pour half the marinade on the inside of the piece of meat and rub it into the meat. Make sure it gets into all the little cuts and holes in the meat.
12. Roll the piece of meat over and thoroughly rub the remaining marinade on the other side.

13. Place this meat into a large dish, cover with a piece of plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for at least four hours. For better taste, you can leave it in the refrigerator overnight.

14. Preheat the oven at 350-375 degree Fahrenheit (depending on how hot your oven gets)
15. Take the meat out of the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature.
16. Roll the piece of meat into a large chunk and with a long piece of butcher’s twine, tie the piece up.

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17. Place the hunk of meat on a rack with a roasting pan underneath.
18. Cover the meat with a piece of foil (not tightly but just a tent so that the top doesn’t get burnt while the inside is still raw).
19. After 30 min or so of roasting, remove the foil and continue roasting until the internal temp of the meat reads t 135-140F (use an accurate meat thermometer). The time varies depending on the size of the piece of meat.
20. Remove the roasting pan from the oven and set it leg of lamb aside for 10-15 minutes. It is essential to let the meat rest so that it retains its juices.

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21. Using a sharp knife, cut the twine off and then slice the piece of meat. Serve it with a side of roast potatoes or anything else you might like. Enjoy!

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comments

  1. Permalink Submitted by Christine Anderson on Thu, 22/01/2015 - 16:47

    will sure try this one out!

    • Permalink Submitted by Shabnam on Tue, 24/02/2015 - 23:25

      so??? did you??? If you did, let me know how the gang at home liked it. xoxox

  2. Permalink Submitted by Mary Jo on Thu, 12/02/2015 - 18:28

    Shabnam, This look wonderful! We get half a grass fed lamb every year, and I have a leg in my freezer. Things are busy but good here. I am looking forward to seeing Chris and Colin and Emily here for the documentary film festival in March. I am sorry to say that I have no plans to go to DC in the foreseeable future. Love your posts on fb, xo Mary Jo

    • Permalink Submitted by Shabnam on Tue, 17/02/2015 - 17:34

      Let me know how the lamb turns out Mary Jo. Yes, I remember the kids all come to MO for the film festival each year. Its great that Colin is beginning to feel better and is back to normal life. I bet you are all relieved of a lot of stress. Well, if you don’t come to DC, maybe I’ll make my way to St. Louise sometime (I’ve never been there!) or maybe we can travel to India together (remember, we’d talked about it once) It would be great to see you again. Stay warm and healthy in this nasty winter – xoxox

  3. Permalink Submitted by Dwayne on Fri, 25/12/2015 - 03:34

    This recipe is amazing. So Google that I’m doing it for a second time…on Christmas.

    Dwayne

  4. Permalink Submitted by Dwayne on Fri, 25/12/2015 - 03:35

    Fricken autocorrect “good”.

    • Permalink Submitted by Shabnam on Mon, 28/12/2015 - 14:18

      Thanks Dwayne!So how was your Christmas? I hope the Lamb Leg turned out well for the holiday. I uploaded this recipe a while back and now you’ve reminded me of it, I’ll have to make it again too 🙂 I really appreciate your feedback. If you try any of my other recipes don’t forget to send me a note (there are a couple of other lamb recipes that you might like …the herb crusted leg of lamb is delicious as well). Happy New Year! – Shabnam

  5. Permalink Submitted by justine @ Full Belly SIsters on Tue, 29/12/2015 - 16:39

    This looks amazing, i love lamb!

    • Permalink Submitted by Shabnam on Tue, 29/12/2015 - 19:35

      Thank you Justine! Welcome to my page 🙂 If you love lamb, this recipe is sure to please you. If you try it, let me know what you think of it.Happy new Year to you – xoxo – Shabnam

  6. Permalink Submitted by Ann Lee on Fri, 01/01/2016 - 07:51

    Great recipe enjoyed by dinner guests. Will be using the recipe again. Thank you!

  7. Permalink Submitted by Ann Lee on Fri, 01/01/2016 - 07:53

    Excellent recipe enjoyed by dinner guests including the cook. Thank you

    • Permalink Submitted by Shabnam on Fri, 01/01/2016 - 15:47

      Thank you Ann Lee! I’m so happy that the lamb was well-received by the guests and the cook! Thanks a ton for the feedback. Happy New Year! – Shabnam

  8. Permalink Submitted by Beverley on Sun, 03/01/2016 - 13:57

    you have inspired me with this dish and all the flavours you have used. Going to make this next weekend, thank you xoxo

    • Permalink Submitted by Shabnam on Sun, 03/01/2016 - 18:54

      Hi Beverly! Welcome to my site 🙂 Yes, this is a great flavorful lamb dish that is good for a family meal or a fancy dinner party you may be hosting. And the leftover lamb is great for sandwiches the next day. If you try it, don’t forget to send me feedback – I’d love to know what your family thinks of it. Also, my husband likes his lamb cooked through (he doesn’t like it rare or pink in the middle), so I roast it more than what most other people would like (it still comes out quite tender inside and not hard to chew or stringy). But if you like your meat to be pink in the middle, then reduce the roasting time time. Good luck – I hope you enjoy it 🙂 And Happy New Year!!!

  9. Permalink Submitted by Mary Jo on Thu, 08/02/2018 - 01:19

    Finally made this. It was so delicious!!!
    Thank you Shabnam

    • Permalink Submitted by Shabnam on Thu, 08/02/2018 - 01:49

      Yayyyyyyyy! so glad you liked it Mary Jo 🙂 It’s always a crowd-pleaser at our house.

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