The special flavor of lamb is well complemented by wild mushrooms, and of course by a sauce made of the lamb drippings as it is roasted in the oven. Mashed potatoes are good for this dish as well. When you roast the lamb, do it for as long as it gets to the doneness you want - if you have a thermometer that you can stick into the meat, it should get to 55 C/130 F for medium and 65 C/145 F for well done.
4 servings:
1 piece of deboned leg of lamb
4 sprigs of thyme
4 sprigs of rosemary
2 garlic cloves, sliced
salt, pepper
olive oil
a little butter
1 chopped onion
1 chopped carrot
1 sprig of thyme
1 crushed garlic
200 mL red wine
1 kg potatoes
salt
400 g chanterells, sliced
crushed garlic
salt, pepper
olive oil
Preheat the oven to 190 C/375 F. Prepare the lamb by trimming away all fat parts. Salt and pepper all around and brown the meat all around in a hot pan with olive oil. Remove from the pan, put it into an oven-proof pan and make some deep cuts into the lamb. Insert garlic, thyme and rosemary into the cuts, sprinkle some olive oil all over the lamb, and put into the oven. Roast for about 45 minutes or more, then add some butter to it and baste it from time to time. Roast for additional 15 minutes or so, until the meat is cooked to the right doneness. (Note: If you have a smaller piece of lamb the timing will be of course different, it may take maybe 40 minutes to cook the lamb. Adjust your time after that!) When fully roasted, remove the lamb from the oven and let it rest for at least 10 minutes wrapped in aluminium foil - this is to redistribute the juices of the lamb. You should also cook the potatoes at the same time as you roast the lamb. Then mash them and mix with some salt. Or make a richer mash with cream, milk and butter if you wish. Do not throw away the roasting pan - collect the drippings of the lamb into a sauce pan, put it on a medium hot stove plate and start sautéing the onion, carrot, garlic and thyme. Do it so the veggies get soft and sweaty without browning, for about 3 minutes or so. Then add the wine and reduce until a thick sauce. For the chanterells heat up some olive oil in a hot pan and put the mushrooms, garlic, salt and pepper in it, and cook for about 2 minutes on each side, until the chanterells are lightly browned. You can add some butter at the end of cooking if you wish some extra rich flavor. Serve everything on a plate.