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Corsican Roasted Lamb

Corsican roasted lamb uses a thick herbal marinade to impart a wonderfully Mediterranean flavor. As the lamb roasts the marinade ingredients will create a flavorful crust as the lamb roasts. The sauce is a simple deglaze of the roasting pan with champagne. You don't have to use champagne any dry white wine will do, but champagne is just cool.

Ingredients

Conversions to European measurements can be found here!

1 6 lb leg of lamb
1 bottle champagne
4 tablespoons softened butter
1 teaspoon mustard
2 tablespoon ground sage
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons Mexican oregano
8 cloves garlic
8 anchovy filets
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup olive oil

Procedure

Crush the anchovies and garlic into a fine paste and mix with the olive oil and mustard. Strip the tender leaves from the rosemary sprigs chop them and add them to the oil along with the red pepper flakes and oregano.

Place the leg of lamb in a tight fitting casserole dish and coat it thoroughly with the entire herb mixture. Marinade the lamb for 4 hours in the refrigerator (if you have the time marinade the lamb overnight). Rotate and re-coat the lamb with the marinade frequently.

After marinating put the lamb, cassarole dish and all in a 450 degree oven for 15 minutes. For the first 15 minutes remove the lid to the cassarole dish and allow the lamb to brown. After 15 minutes put the lid back on for the remainder of the cooking time.

After the fifteen minutes passes reduce the heat to 325 and continue cooking for an additional 1 1/2 to 2 hours. During that time use a spoon (or basting bulb) to coat the lamb in the pan juices. You may want to do this every ten minutes or so the first 30 minutes then only about every 30 minutes after that.

Remove from the oven when the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees. Check the temperature after the first hour and if you think the exterior is getting too dark but the internal temperature of the lamb is still too rare you can cover the lamb in tin foil to preserve the exterior color while the lamb continues to cook.

When cooked remove the lamb to a carving platter. Retain the cooking juices in the roasting pan and remove some of the excess fat. Place the roasting pan on the stove top and heat to a boil. Add the champagne.

Reduce the sauce by half. Thicken the sauce with softened butter just before serving.

Notes

If the lamb appears to be getting too dark or is beginning to burn you can wrap the lamb with tin foil until the internal temperature reaches 145