Roast Leg of Lamb

Mmm. Try and make some specialness for your friends and family. Roasted Leg of Lamb, warm asparagus salad with ramp vinaigrette, roasted red thumb potatoes (serves 4-6 people)

Ingredients:

Lamb:
1 Boneless leg of lamb
1 Large sprig of rosemary
2 bunch Italian parsley
1 bunch thyme
1 head of garlic
Salt and Pepper
Butchers twine
¼ cup canola oil

Red Thumb potatoes:
3 lb. red thumb potatoes (new potatoes are good too if you can’t find red thumb)
½ cup canola oil
¼ cup chopped Italian parsley
Salt and pepper

Asparagus Salad:
2 bunches jumbo asparagus
1 lb. fresh ramps
¼ lb. shaved pecorino cheese
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 tbs. Dijon mustard
¼ cup chopped shallot
1 cup canola oil
2 tbs. extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Steps, Techniques, Presentation:

Lamb:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pick the leaves off all the herbs (rosemary, parsley, thyme) and keep separate. Individually chop the herbs fine, leaving ¼ cup of parsley to toss with the potatoes later. Peel the garlic and put through garlic press or mince well with a knife. Lay out the leg of lamb and season well with chopped herbs, garlic, and salt and pepper. Roll up as tightly as possible and tie the leg together leaving 1-2” between each tie. Season outside with salt and pepper. Heat large skillet to almost smoking, add canola oil and sear on all sides golden brown. Turn off burner and finish in oven until a meat thermometer reads 145 or about 20-25 minutes. When finished remove from the oven and allow to rest for at least 10-15 minutes. During this time the internal temperature should raise about 10 degrees making it a perfect medium rare to medium. This also allows the meat to rest and hold all its juices.

Asparagus:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. In the meantime, clean asparagus by cutting off woody bottoms of asparagus (about 1” from the bottom). Peel the spears using a very light motion, starting 2-3” below the tip. When water is boiling add the asparagus and cook just until tender. Dump out asparagus in colander and then cool immediately in ice water.

Vinaigrette:
Clean the ramps extremely well and cut just root tip off. Bunch several of them together and cut them (starting from the white end) about ¼ inch cut. Set aside. Heat up sauté pan until really hot; add 1 tbs. canola and sauté really quickly. Remove from the heat immediately, do not brown the greens. They just need to be cooked quickly because they are so strong. Place in bowl to cool. In a blender, add chopped shallots, vinegar, and mustard. Blend until shallots are completely incorporated into the liquid. Slowly pour in canola oil through the top of the blender while running to emulsify the dressing. Add the cooked chopped ramps and blend until they are completely incorporated. Season it and set aside.

Plating the Asparagus:
Season the asparagus with salt and pepper and heat up in 400 degree oven. Place on a serving platter, dress with vinaigrette, and garnish with shaved pecorino.

Potatoes:
Halve the potatoes, toss in bowl with canola oil, salt, and pepper. Place on sheet pan and roast off in 400 degree oven until soft in the middle. Remove from the oven and toss with fresh chopped parsley. Season again if needed. Place on nice serving platter.

Plating the Lamb and Potatoes:
Remove the ties from the leg of lamb and slice against the grain into ¼ inch cuts. Lay the meat over the potatoes for a nice presentation.

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