Roast lamb in the oven recipe
Last Updated on
Total: 2 h 20 min
Lamb and suckling pig are the heads and tails of Christmas Eve dinner, in most homes if there is not one for dinner, there is the other. So it has been year after year at Christmas and New Year’s Eve meals, with permission of course turkeys and capons that also have their audience for these dates so marked.
Choosing the best lamb for Christmas
In the case of lamb, as with suckling pig, if we do not have a trusted butcher where we can order what we would like to cook and we have to go to the supermarket, we will find several types of lamb and at different prices.
In this article we are going to tell you the difference between them, so you can buy without fear and your lamb recipe will be a success.
Types of lamb found in stores
Depending on the age of the animal, the type of feed it has received throughout its life and the weight of the specimen, we will find the following lambs on the market:
Suckling lamb. It has a maximum of a month and a half of age, has only been fed with mother’s milk and does not exceed 8 kg in weight. It is the most expensive, so its meat is the most tender, fine and appreciated. Ternasco or suckling lamb. These are animals whose age does not exceed 4 months, which alternate feeding with a base of milk with part of feed and should not exceed 13 kg in weight. Pascual lamb. These are lambs of more than four months and less than one year old that are fed on pasture and/or feed. The meat has a more intense flavor than that of suckling or recental lambs. Ovino mayor. Lambs over one year old are hardly consumed in Spain. They are usually exported to Arab countries.
Lamb origin
In the supermarket these days we are going to see lamb appearing even in the frozen section. We can also find frozen lamb in the frozen food stores. It is usually pasture-raised lamb, normally from the United Kingdom, which we can find in chops, shoulders and legs.
If we go to fresh lamb, we must take into account that the youngest ones are the most tender and the ones that will give us the best results at home. In Spain there are several areas with Protected Geographical Indication, which is a seal of quality that guarantees the goodness of the product we are taking.
Manchego lamb, lamb from Castilla y León, Ternasco de Aragón or lamb from Navarra are always a good choice. Also noteworthy for their quality are Cordero Segureño and Cordero Extremeño.
Cuts of lamb
Suckling and suckling lambs can be purchased in different formats, although it is normal to buy them whole -suckling lamb- or in halves -suckling and suckling lamb-.
By pieces, the most common are the leg, the shoulder -smaller and more appreciated than the leg for being tastier- , the rib -all of them perfect for roasting- or the loose chops that are usually cooked on the grill or with garlic. These would be the noblest and most expensive cuts, but lately other more modest cuts are beginning to be more in demand, such as the necks and the skirt, which can be cooked in the oven and are really tasty. They are also perfect for preparing stews and casseroles.
How to cook roast lamb in the oven
Ingredients
. Suckling lamb, 500 g per person Coarse salt Water
There are many versions for making baked lamb at home, but this is the simplest and quickest. We are not going to complicate our lives and we are going to get to the point, which is what matters. In addition, we will not use spices or garlic, which on other occasions do appear, today we seek to enhance only the flavor of the lamb.
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 160 ºC.
Step 2
Lightly moisten the lamb with water using a small brush. Salt the lamb with coarse salt and massage it with both hands to spread the salt all over the leg.
Step 3
Fill the oven tray with a glass and a half of water. On top we put a rack and on it the lamb with the skin facing down. In no case the lamb can be in contact with the water because it will cook and we want to avoid that. In the video you will see very well and visually explained this step.
Step 3
We put the lamb in the oven at 160 ºC for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Every 20 minutes we open the oven and baste with its own juices.
Step 4
After 1 hour and 20 minutes we raise the oven to 180 ºC and leave it for 10 minutes.
Step 5
Remove the lamb and turn it over so that the skin is facing up. We put it back in and we have it 30 minutes at 180 ºC. Keep an eye on it, if it is crispy before we can take it out, if after 30 minutes it is not crispy it can be more time without problem until it is crispy and ready.
Step 6
Prepare the sauce. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter over low heat in a saucepan. We add all the game that has released the lamb and let reduce about 30 minutes over medium heat. We use it to baste the lamb.
Notes
We have prepared a easy baked lamb. This we can complicate it as much as we want, we can add garlic and rosemary to the water to give it another aroma, or we can play with the sauce and make it more complex. Here everyone is free, but this one we have shown you is the easiest version and it looks wonderful.
We can accompany it with baked potatoes or even with mashed potatoes that we can then drizzle with the lamb sauce.
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