Fourteen years ago, Stephen was going through chemo for Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma and was not allowed to travel, even for Easter. It was my family’s turn to celebrate Easter with us, so they came to us, and that is how I ended up hosting Easter Dinner for the first time!
I decided to mix things up a bit with what my family usually did for the meal, asking Stephen what his favorite dishes for Easter were (mashed potatoes and strawberry pretzel salad), thinking about favorite dishes for my family (lemon merengue pie!), and getting a Leg of Lamb as the main dish!
I had never cooked Leg of Lamb before, and only eaten it once before–at Easter Dinner the year before, which had been hosted by Stephen’s maternal grandmother. You see, his family always had lamb, but this was only the second year we were married and so I had only had it once so far!
By a year and a half into marriage, I knew Stephen was the better cook (I knew that ahead of time!), but I also knew I could follow a good recipe! So I turned to Joy of Cooking, my trusted, never-fail cookbook and kitchen tutor, for a Leg of Lamb recipe.
The difficulty now was in finding a leg of lamb!
We lived in Bowie, Maryland at the time and enjoyed going a short distance to Annapolis to shop at the Amish Market. Thankfully, I was able to find a leg of lamb there.
It was huge! And so was the price tag, coming in at over $100! I don’t remember the price per pound, but although the sticker price initially shocked me, I reasoned that it was well worth it for a celebration as important as Easter, when we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God!
And it was well worth it!
Because the Leg of Lamb was a full leg–including the upper (roast) and lower (shank) parts of the leg, it proved a little trickier to:
a. fit into a pan
b. get the whole leg up to well done temperature–which was important to us since Stephen’s immune system was low due to chemo
However, once it was done, we all enjoyed the feast!
When the day was over, and the kitchen was all clean, we were exhausted! I was glad that I had the next day off from teaching! (As you can see in the photos, which are not of the dinner, but of Stephen and I, I was also 5 months pregnant with our oldest child, Raphael! And wow! we were such babies!!!)
But I am so grateful for the chance to host Easter Dinner that year! I learned A LOT of new skills: like making a lemon-merengue pie, roasting a leg of lamb, and timing everything almost just right!
If you’re thinking about serving Leg of Lamb at your Easter Dinner this year, I would encourage you to give it a try! We have 10 legs available, and they will actually be much easier to cook than what I had to work with that first year because they are just the leg of lamb roasts–the good, thick, meaty part from the top of the leg. They are bone-in, but the bone gives them a better flavor that when meat has been deboned. And they are all definitely under $100!
If you want to give it a try, I recommend the following recipe, based on the recipe from Joy of Cooking (75th Anniversary Edition).
Leg of Lamb Roast
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Combine in a small bowl:
1 tablespoon black pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon finely minced fresh rosemary or 1/2 teaspoon finely crumbled dried rosemary
Add to the seasoning mixture and toss to coat:
2 or more large cloves garlic, cut lengthwise into slivers or slices
Place the leg of lamb roast in a roasting pan, meatier side up, and cut slits in the top of the roast every half inch or so, inserting the seasoned garlic slivers. Rub the roast with the rest of the seasoning.
Drizzle the roast with:
3 tablespoons olive oil
Place the roast in the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
Roast until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the meat reads 140 degrees for medium-rare (about 18 minutes per pound), or 160 degrees for medium (about 20 minutes per pound). The temperature will rise outside the oven. If you don’t want to do the math, here is a handy-dandy meat cooking time calculator!
Remove from the oven, cover loosely with foil, and let rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
When serving, you can slice the meat parallel or perpendicular to the bone. Whatever you do with confidence will impress your guests! Or slice it ahead of serving if you want the freedom to mess up! 🙂
Enjoy! Lamb pairs well with mint, lemon, and capers and you can use any of these to make a sauce. We also enjoy horseradish mixed with mayonnaise for a super easy sauce! But you can also enjoy it as is!
If you’re interested in ordering a leg of lamb roast for Easter, here is a link. There’s plenty of time to come pick it up between now and Easter!
We also love eating lamb for other occasions, so be sure to check out all of our lamb products!
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