Greek Style Rotisserie Leg of Lamb
GREEK STYLE ROTISSERIE LEG OF LAMB
I just bought a new grill with a built-in rotisserie and I couldn’t wait to try it. Even though the weather has been cold, I cooked a whole chicken on the grill a couple of weeks ago and it turned out really well. So I decided to try out a whole leg of lamb. I opted for the smaller, boneless leg of lamb sold at Trader Joe’s, rather than the much larger ones sold at Costco or Whole Foods and other markets, which I usually cook in the oven.
I marinated the lamb overnight and placed it on the rotisserie the next evening and it was cooked to perfection in about 1 ½ hours. The meat was soft and well cooked and the flavors were excellent. I like a crust on my meat, so I seared it on high heat for about 10 minutes after it was almost cooked. Give this a try, it’s easy, in fact effortless and the results are stunning. If you don’t have a rotisserie this would cook well on a roasting pan in the oven at low to medium heat (especially if you have convection bake), just make sure to turn it every 20-30 minutes so that it cooks evenly and you can get a crust by turning on the broiler for a few minutes at the end.
Ingredients:
Boneless leg of land – 1.5 to 2 lbs
Lemon (½)
½ tbsp kosher salt
½ tbsp white pepper
4-6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
½ tbsp dried oregano
½ tbsp dried thyme
½ tbsp dried rosemary
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter (softened)
Marinate the meat:
Squeeze the juice of half a lemon all over the meat and rub it in.
Take a sharp knife and make small cuts all over the meat (a quick stab works best).
Fill each cut with one slice/piece of garlic.
Mix the 3 herbs and olive oil and rub the mixture all over the meat, inside and out.
Sprinkle salt and pepper all over the meat (you can sprinkle more liberally than suggested, if you want).
Optional: you may want to sprinkle 1 tsp of brown sugar (this will give a really nice savory crust once cooked).
Cover and marinate overnight.
(Because of the lemon juice, marinating for too long is not a good idea).
Cooking:
Turn on the grill to the rotisserie setting on low.
Rub the softened butter all over the lamb.
Mount it on the rotisserie. I didn’t have any problems, but if it looks like it may fall off, just truss it with string.
Place it on the grill and let cook for 60-90 minutes.
I like to place a grill pan under the meat to collect all the drippings otherwise the grill may flare up and burn the meat and create a mess.
Check the temperature of the meat by inserting a thermometer in the thickest part till the internal temperature is 160*F for medium or 170*F for well done.
Turn up the heat and cook for 5-10 more minutes to get a nice crust.
Remove from the grill and cover with foil and let rest for 10 minutes.
Slice the meat and enjoy with pita bread, naan, salad, tzatziki sauce and/or fried rice.