Roast Lamb with Olives & Preserved Lemon

Roast Lamb with Olives and Preserved Lemons served with Roasted Fingerlings with Preserved Lemons and Broccolini

My family loves lamb. Roast Lamb is one of our favorites. We get our lamb from a local farm, RC Organic Farms. Jackie and Steve are wonderful people. We love knowing them and supporting their farm. The lamb is grass-fed and organic, and it is where we have sourced our poultry and lamb for many years. We get two lambs a year. One lamb we have processed in the processor’s standard cuts and one processed into just ground lamb and stew meat. Lambs are not large animals, so two lambs really isn’t all that much meat. We also save our bones for bone broth (we usually mix them with some beef bones and the mixed broth is delicious).

Finished Roasted Leg of Lamb
Finished Roasted Leg of Lamb

Olives, lamb and preserved lemon are a wonderful combination of flavors

I started making preserved lemons years ago. I make a batch every year. New ways to use them are always on my mind. I decided they would be a delicious addition to my roast leg of lamb dish. Olives and preserved lemons are a flavor combination that work well together. This dish is flavorful, easy and delicious. You can really use any type of olive, pitted or not, any will work. I prefer an a pitted mix of various greek olives.

The leg of lamb roasts we get with our freezer meat have the bone in, but in the past we have gotten grass-fed boneless leg of lamb from the store. You can do this recipe with either type.

If you use a boneless leg of lamb, they usually come in a net, just remove the net and unroll the meat. Spread the spice/mustard mixture on the inside of the meat. Roll the meat back up and tie it with butcher twine. You can just add plain dijon mustard to the outside of the meat.

For bone-in roast, I cut a slit in the meat and stuff it with the spice/mustard mixture. You can slather that mixture on the outside, or just slather it with the plain dijon mustard.

Roast Lamb is a decadent meal

I served the leg of lamb with organic broccolini and Roasted organic fingerling potatoes with preserved lemon. It is wonderful to serve the cooked olives, lemon and juices over the lamb when you serve it.

I have included the recipes for the spice blend I use on lamb and the roast leg of lamb. Here is the link to the preserved lemon recipe. I hope you enjoy these recipes, it is a delicious meal.

There is a video of making the Preserved Lemons and of making the Roast Lamb with Olives and Preserved Lemons.

Roast Lamb with Olives & Preserved Lemon

Recipe by Lisa ImermanCourse: Lamb, Main CourseCuisine: MediterraneanDifficulty: Medium
Servings

8

servings
Prep time

20

minutes
Cooking time

1

hour 

30

minutes

Ingredients

  • Lamb Seasoning Mix”

  • 2 teaspoons dried thyme

  • 1.5 teaspoons dried rosemary

  • 1 teaspoon dried mint

  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin

  • 1 teaspoon paprika

  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder

  • Additional Lamb spices needed:

  • 2 Tablespoons minced garlic

  • 2-3 Tablespoons organic Dijon mustard (more if needed)

  • Salt and pepper to taste (I used about teaspoon pepper and 1.5 teaspoons salt)

  • Leg of Lamb (4-5 pounds, adjust if smaller)

  • 1 cup Pitted Greek olives (or any olives will work..any amount will work).

  • 1/2 to 1 preserved lemon, cut into pieces

  • 1.5 cups white wine

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  • Mix Lamb seasoning ingredients (thyme-onion powder) in a small bowl
  • Add garlic, mustard, salt and pepper to spice mix. Mix well
  • If using a bone-in leg of lamb, cut a split in it and fill with spice/mustard mixture. Coat outside of meat with any remaining mixture or plain dijon mustard
  • If using a boneless leg of lamb, remove from netting and open meat. Smear spice/mustard mixture over inside of meat. Roll meat back up and tie together with butcher twine. Smear outside with any remaining mixture or with plain dijon mustard
  • Place prepared lamb into roasting pan.
  • Sprinkle olives and cut up preserved lemons around lamb roast
  • Pour wine around lamb roast
  • Place in pre-heated oven. You can use a probe thermometer or check it at intervals with an instant read thermometer. You want to cook it till the internal temperature of the meat is 130 degrees F. Approximately, 90 minutes for a 4.5-5 pound boneless roast.
  • If top of meat is getting too dark, you can cover it with foil to prevent the coating from burning.
  • When roast is done cooking, remove from oven, cover and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes before carving. Serve roast with juices, cooked olives and preserved lemons.

Recipe Video

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