Pomegranate & Orange Leg of Lamb
By Irvin Lin
A leg of lamb is an impressive cut of meat to make while entertaining and it’s fairly easy to make. Make sure to purchase a leg that has the shank removed or else it won’t fit properly. If the shank is still part of the leg, ask your butcher to cut it off for you. This recipe calls for pomegranate molasses, which is different than pomegranate juice. You can find it at Middle Eastern grocery stores or upscale natural food grocery stores as well as online.
- Yield:
6 Servings
Ingredients
- 3 to 4 pound leg of lamb, bone in
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 medium onion
- 2 medium carrots
- 1 medium parsnip
- 1 medium fennel bulb
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1/4 cup pomegranate molasses
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 4 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Directions
- Take the lamb leg out of the refrigerator an hour before roasting it, to let it come to room temperature. Once the hour is over, preheat the oven to 325˚F. Lightly score the leg of lamb in a criss-cross pattern with a sharp knife on both sides. Liberally season the entire lamb with salt and pepper.
- Roughly chop the onion, carrot and parsnip into bite-size chunks. Slice the fennel bulb into 1/2-inch slices. Place all the vegetables at the bottom of a cast iron Dutch oven. Pour the chicken stock over the vegetables. Place the lamb on top of the vegetables. It should fit snuggly in the casserole pot.
- Mix the pomegranate molasses, orange juice, ground cumin, minced garlic and olive oil in a glass measuring cup or small bowl. Pour the mixture over the lamb. Cover with lid and roast in the oven for 1 hour. After the hour is over, insert a meat thermometer deep into lamb meat to check how done the meat is. For medium rare, cook until the internal temperature reaches 135˚F as the meat will continue to cook after it is taken out of the oven. For medium continue to cook 140˚F. For Well-Done cook to 155˚F.
- If the meat isn’t at the desired temperature continue cooking for 10-minute intervals with the lid off (this will help promote the browning of the meat on top), until it reaches how you like your meat. Let the lamb leg rest for 15 minutes before carving, which will allow the meat to continue to cook as well as the juices to reabsorb into the leg.