When you are having guests over, the last thing you want is to be bogged down with a complicated meal. This simple recipe is the perfect rescue. It brings together a handful of ingredients and delivers maximum flavour. The aroma of saffron, garlic and thyme as it roasts is simply irresistable and the final dish makes for a perfect Sunday roast.
Middle Eastern Roast Leg of Lamb
(serves 6-8)
- 5 lb leg of lamb
- 18 g garlic cloves, cut in half
- pinch of saffron
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 tsp dried thyme
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 850 g baking potatoes, peeled and thickly sliced
- 450 g (about 4 small) onions, thickly sliced into rings
- 225 g (about 2) lemons, ends trimmed and thickly sliced
- 2-3 whole heads of garlic, trimmed at the top to expose the cloves
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme
- roasted carrots and asparagus for serving or any vegetable of your choice
- For every piece of garlic, make incisions in the lamb (bottom side) and press the garlic into it.
- Soak saffron in 1 tbsp of boiling water for 5 minutes.
- Combine saffron water, lemon juice, olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper. Rub mixture over the lamb and let marinate for 2-4 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350 °F.
- In a large baking pan, layer potato, onion and lemon slices. Place lamb on top, pour remaining marinade over the lamb.
- Roast for a total of 2-2 1/2 hours, basting occasionally. It’s best to use a meat thermometer. For lamb, the reading should be 170 °F for well done.
- After one hour of roasting, add garlic heads to the pan and roast these for the remainder of the time.
- Garnish with fresh thyme and serve with roasted carrots and asparagus.
conifères & feuillus 
This looks very appealing. Great photos. I’m so hungry now and it is late.
Thank you. I have this problem all the time… I do most of my blogging late at night after the kids have gone to bed… it’s the worst time to want to eat!
That looks absolutely delish!
Thank you Kunal!
😊
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! ❤ We can't wait to try it out. ❤ As always, fabulous photography. ❤
As always, thank you so much for your kind words and encouragement!!
Yum this looks so delicious and you have me looking forwards to the lamb I have to look forwards to on Easter Sunday!
looks and sounds delicious!
Wow, now that’s a feast. I’m really mouthwatering. I love leg of lamb and this looks out of this world. The photos too, with the beautiful blue pan. Amazing.
Thank you, Myra… we did not roast in the blue pan, we actually used a much larger pan but it wasn’t very photogenic so I had to carefully place everything in the blue one… everyone was waiting to eat so by the time I took a few photos, there was not even any time to photograph a plateful.
This looks fabulous! Leg of lamb is the ultimate – one of my absolute favourites. And I love the flavours, Annika. Saffron, garlic, thyme and lemon – yum!!!
Thank you, Tracey. The aroma coming out of the oven is amazing with these ingredients.
I’m drooling in front of the screen here. 🙂
Lol… as long as it’s not on the keyboard. 🙂
Looks and sounds absolutely amazing…it’s definitely a must try❤
Thank you Marisa!
This looks so good! I am always intimidated by Lamb but it seems like everyone is doing it lately! This post raises my confidence level! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! I am intimidated by all meats. My husband is the chef behind this one… but this one in particular is not too complicated. It’s delicious, well worth the try!
Yum! Just found my recipe for Easter brunch!! 🙂
Super! That makes me so happy! 🙂