Roasted Boneless Lamb with Red Wine Pan Sauce

To prepare the Roasted Lamb

• 5–6 pound boneless, tied leg of lamb
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Zest from 2 lemons
• 5 garlic cloves minced (2 1/2 tablespoons)
• ½ cup chopped mixed fresh herbs (equal amounts of Italian parsley, rosemary and thyme)
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
• Juice from one lemon
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

To prepare the Red Wine Pan sauce

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup minced shallots
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 quart chicken or beef stock (or half of each)
• 2 fresh rosemary sprigs, about 4–6 inches in length
• 8 fresh thyme sprigs
• 3 Tablespoons butter
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

To prepare the Roasted lamb

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Remove netting from roast and discard. Open up lamb, cut side up on your cutting board and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.
3. In a small bowl, mix together zest, garlic, herbs and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Using your hands, spread all over inside cavity of lamb.
4. Fold lamb back into a roast and place on board fat side up. Using good butcher’s twine, wrap and tie four or five side wraps down the length of the roast and two more end to end.
5. Place fat side up in a baking dish.
6. In a small bowl, mix lemon juice, mustard, rosemary and remaining olive oil. Mix to combine and spread all over the top of the roast.
7. Place probe thermometer into the thickest part of the roast and set temperature to alarm at 125 degrees F. Place roast in center rack of oven.
8. Roast at 325 degrees F for about two hours or until internal temperature reaches 125 degrees F.
9. Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees F and roast for about 15 additional minutes or until internal temperature reaches 135 degrees F and outside of roast is slightly charred.
10. Remove from oven, place the roast on a platter and loosely cover with foil. However, leave probe thermometer in so that juices don’t leak out. Let the roast rest at least 20 minutes before removing probe and slicing.
11. Make pan sauce while roast is resting.
12. Remove twine and slice. Serve with pan sauce, see below.

To prepare the Red Wine Pan Sauce

1. In a small sauce pan over medium heat, sauté shallots in olive oil 2-3 minutes or until tender. Set aside.
2. In the pan that was used to roast the lamb, drain off and discard all lamb fat leaving brown bits on bottom and place over a medium burner. (I poured fat off into cup and once it settled, I discarded fat that floated to top and put the liquid and sediment from the bottom of the cup back into the pan) Add red wine and cooked shallots and scrape any bits from the bottom of the pan. Reduce wine mixture until almost all wine has evaporated.
3. Add in stock and fresh herbs and any juice that has accumulated on platter. Reduce by at least half or more. (I reduced down to about a cup and a quarter).
4. Off heat, add in butter and stir into sauce. Season with additional salt and pepper if needed. Strain sauce through a fine mesh strainer and into a gravy boat and discard solids. The sauce is not thick like gravy but just slightly thick. If the sauce is too intense, simply dilute with a little water.