This spicy grilled leg of lamb is butterflied, marinated with garlic, lemon zest and za’atar and cooked up juicy and tender, perfect for a barbecue party!
In case you haven’t figured it out by now, our family loves lamb. We eat it in stews, roasts for family, roasts for only two, in shish kebabs and murtabak and stuffed naan, just to mention a few of our favorites. We are also fond of slow cooked lamb shoulder and rack of lamb. Honestly, there’s nothing that says Sunday supper at our house like a beautiful rosemary and garlic spiked leg of lamb roasted to a golden brown with roasted potatoes.
But when temperatures start to rise and I am loath to turn the oven on, this spicy grilled leg of lamb is our favorite way to cook it. Removing the bones, in other words, creating a butterflied leg of lamb, opens the meat up so you can add marinade both inside and out. The result is a perfect spicy grilled leg of lamb.
Spicy Grilled Leg of Lamb
I’ve made this recipe several times with lamb legs of varying sizes. If yours is bigger, simply increase the ingredient amounts for the marinade accordingly. I only give the weight of my most recent leg as a guide. The one before this was twice this weight!
Ingredients
1 leg of lamb (about 2.6 lbs or 1.2 kg) - bone, sinews and gristle removed
For the marinade:
2 large cloves garlic
1 teaspoon kosher or coarse grained sea salt
1/2 teaspoon whole peppercorns
2 tablespoons za’atar (a Middle Eastern spice mix)
Juice and zest one lemon or lime
2 tablespoons olive oil
Method
Crush the peeled garlic with a mortar and pestle, along with the salt, peppercorns, za’atar and lemon (or lime, I use either depending on what's in the fridge) zest, until you have a fine paste.
Add in the lemon (or lime) juice and olive oil and whisk to combine.
Spread the marinade over your butterflied leg of lamb on both sides.
Pop it into a Ziploc bag and try to squeeze all the air out before sealing. Refrigerate for at least one hour or until you are ready to grill the lamb. This step can even be done the day before if you are prepping for a barbecue party.
When you are about ready to grill, remove the lamb from the refrigerator and get the grill fired up and ready to go. We have a charcoal grill so, once lit, it takes about 20 minutes for the coals to start turning grey.
Cook the spicy grilled leg of lamb to your desired degree of doneness. We like it pretty pink inside so that takes about 12-15 minutes a side. My apologies for no actual grilling photos. In the dark outside, when we finally got around to grilling this time, they would not have been helpful. Plus only YOU know how rare (or not) you like your lamb.
Leave to rest for about 10 minutes then slice the spicy grilled leg of lamb thinly to serve.
Since it's summer, I suggest a side salad as an accompaniment. If you really need potatoes, how about a pumped up potato salad? (I wanted to call this Pimp My Potato Salad but my daughter wouldn't let me. It's so good!)
Enjoy!
It's Sunday FunDay and I am hosting! Our theme is Summer Grilling because who doesn't love a little smoky flavor and cooking outside. Check out the great recipes we are sharing below:
- Basque Pipérade with Grilled Tuna Steaks from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
- Grilled Eggplant with Garlic and Parmesan from Karen's Kitchen Stories
- Spicy Grilled Leg of Lamb from Food Lust People Love
- Stuffed Pizza Burgers from A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Tandoori Gobi - Cauliflower Made On Gas Stove from Sneha’s Recipe
- Tandoori Masala - Spice Mixture from Mayuri's Jikoni
- Tequila Lime Chicken from Amy's Cooking Adventures
- Vietnamese Lemongrass Pork Kebabs from Palatable Pastime
We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.
Pin this Spicy Grilled Leg of Lamb!
.
No comments :
Post a Comment
Where in the world are you? Leave me a comment! It makes me happy to know you are out there.