Leg of lamb with Moroccan spices is marinated with an intoxicating blend of earthy, warming spices and served with pan sauce, honey, and Aleppo chile pepper.
What temperature should lamb be cooked to?
Don’t know your desired final temperature for cooking lamb? Figure rare happens at 130°F (54°C) to 135°F (57°C), medium-rare 135°F (57°C) to 140°F (60°C), and medium about 145°F (63°C). We don’t recommended cooking lamb past medium—you’ll just end up with a dried out, chewy disappointment.
Here’s an extra tip from our very own David Leite—make sure that your meat thermometer is accurate. You can do this by bringing water to a boil and inserting the thermometer. It should read 212° on the nose. If not, turn the small nut underneath to adjust it or, if that doesn’t work, you’ll need to buy another.
Leg of Lamb with Moroccan Spices
Ingredients
- For the marinade
- For the table herbs and spices
- For the pan sauce
Directions
In a food processor or blender, combine all the ingredients and purée. Taste a little. You want the distinct snap of lemon and a hint of heat from the chile. Feel free to add more of whatever you think is needed.
Spread the lamb in a shallow dish. Make about 12 deep slits in the meat and stuff in spoonfuls of the marinade. Pour the rest of the marinade over the lamb, turning the meat to thoroughly coat it. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Take the meat out of the refrigerator 1 hour before cooking.
Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C).
Remove the lamb from the marinade and place it, fatty side up, in a large, very shallow pan (a half-sheet pan is ideal). Pour in enough of the marinade to coat the meat; reserve the rest. Roast the lamb for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 300°F (149°C) and roast for another 15 minutes. Pour the rest of the marinade over the meat and continue roasting the lamb, basting often with the pan juices, for about 1 more hour, or until it is 10°F (-12°C) below the doneness you want.
While the lamb roasts, pile the romaine leaves on a platter, cover, and refrigerate serving. Place the salt, cumin, Aleppo pepper, honey, and lemon wedges in small individual bowls to pass at the table. Pile the mint, watercress, and cilantro on a plate, cover, and refrigerate.
When the lamb is about 10°F (12°C) below the final desired doneness, turn on the broiler. (Because the acids in the marinade slow down browning, a finish of a fast broil is needed to make the lamb all burnished and becoming.) Broil until crusty, about 5 minutes. Turn the meat and repeat. Transfer the lamb to a platter and let rest at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes so the juices can settle and the meat can rise to its final temperature.
While the lamb rests, make the pan sauce by placing the roasting pan over two burners cranked to high heat. Stir in the wine, scraping the bottom of the pan as you bring the pan juices to a boil. Cook, stirring, until the sauce is thick and rich tasting, about 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to low to keep the sauce warm.
Thinly slice the lamb across the grain and arrange the lamb on a platter. Pour the pan sauce over the lamb, garnish with a few sprigs of the herbs, and place it on the table along with romaine, spices, honey, lemon, herbs, and so forth. Instruct guests to roll the lamb in the romaine along with the spices, honey, herbs, and a squeeze of lemon. Originally published February 28, 2012.
Recipe Testers' Reviews
This lamb recipe couldn’t be simpler or tastier. Making the marinade—which is really more like a loose paste—took mere minutes. Then I smeared the marinade over the leg, covered it, and shoved it in the fridge overnight. The hardest thing to do was remember I had raw lamb juice all over my hands, so I had to refrain from licking them.
The next day, the roasting went off without a hitch. My five-pound leg of lamb took exactly 1 1/2 hours to cook. The only thing is, it was a wee bit overcooked—we like our lamb rare to medium-rare. But it was my thermometer’s fault. I didn’t test it first.
The best part, though, was devouring the lamb at the table using our fingers. My guests loved it. We couldn’t stop trying all the combinations of spices and herbs. A few thing we discovered: Do not, on pain of death, pass up the honey or the Aleppo pepper. They add just the requisite sweet heat. The One had a great suggestion: Make sure wet hand towels are placed alongside the napkins. We kept wiping our fingers on our cloth napkins, and by the end they all looked like artist rags.
Since I didn’t have any Aleppo pepper on hand, I used a 4:1 ratio of sweet paprika and cayenne. The pan sauce was amazing—we all raved about it. None of us reached for additional spice at the table, although we did like the combination of lamb, cilantro, and lemon.
I had a grass-fed leg of lamb that weighed a little more than five pounds, and it took a lot longer to cook than the recipe stated—about 2.5 hours total. I was aiming for a final internal temp of 140°F, and after fifteen minutes of resting, the meat was incredible, even for those who love it rare.
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This is just fabulous! We love Moroccan flavors and often make couscous, harira, etc, but this I must try. I have never prepared a leg of lamb and this would be a wonderful place to start. Beautiful recipe – thank you!
Our pleasure, Jamie! But thanks really go to Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift, the brilliant minds behind this recipe and authors of the book The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Weekends…
What would be good side dishes to go with this amazing leg of lamb?
I intend to serve oven-roasted veg and couscous with mine, yummy!
That sounds perfect and lovely, Mavis!
Good question, Monica. We’d opt for a simple salad of sliced oranges or clementines with olives and red onions and a dribble of olive oil, as pictured above. You could embellish it with either a sprinkling of the same spices as in the lamb or you could simply strew some fresh mint on top. Some perfectly cooked rice would also be a welcome addition, perhaps infused with warming spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, and the like. Or couscous. Or flatbread. You could also serve a simple carrot dish, whether raw shaved or grated carrots with fresh orange juice and spices or quickly cooked in oil with honey and cumin.
Hi Renee & Monica,
You can also try with oven-baked naan–flatbread made with flour, garlic, onion or sesame seeds.
Cheers
Praj
Lovely, Praj. Thank you.
Love the sound of this but I’m thinking of using goat meat instead of lamb; it just sounds like it would be perfect with it.
I don’t think you can go wrong either way, Barbara…
Ohmygoodness! You can bet that I will be making this ASAP!
Let us know when you do, Janis!