Changing Seasons with Spring Lamb

It’s spring and as the season changes, so does our palates. 

Gone are the warm, comforting, stick to your ribs soups, stews and crockpot meals. Welcome in gentle tender greens, lighter fare and spring lamb. Lamb is celebrated around the world in every corner of the globe. 

Being a spring lamb, it will have almost no fat on it, so we must help to keep it moist. Bacon will lend itself, both inside and out well to this task. Flavorings will come from garlic, rosemary, Italian parsley, salt, pepper and a surprising hit from vodka.

Ingredients

• 1 5-7 pound boneless leg of lamb.  Have it butterflied, or if not available, use 2 smaller roasts.
• 6 strips of bacon, cut into ½” strips
• 6 strips of bacon, left intact
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced fine
• 2 tbsp of chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 tbsp of chopped fresh parsley
• salt
• pepper
• 1 large onion, peeled, and cut into ½” sections
• 6 carrots, peeled and cut into ½” chunks
• 2 oz. unflavored vodka

Directions

1. Begin frying the cut up bacon in a sauté pan.
2. When almost crisp, add the garlic, rosemary, and parsley. 
3. Cook for one minute and remove from the heat.
4. Open up your butterflied lamb, or lay the two butterflied smaller roasts side by side. 
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Evenly spread the bacon, garlic and herb mixture over the lamb.
7. Roll up, lay the roll seam side down.
8. Lay the remaining bacon over the top and tie the roast at 1” intervals with butcher’s twine.
9. Lay the onion and the carrots on the bottom of a roasting pan, large enough to hold the roast.
10. Lay the roast on top of the onions and carrots, they keep it off of the bottom of the roasting pan.
11. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
12. Cook the roast for 15 minutes a pound, or until a thermometer reads 140 degrees, halfway through, add the vodka.
13. Let the roast rest for 20 minutes.
14. Remove the twine and carve into ½” slices.
15. Strain the pan juices and serve with the lamb.

What do you think of this recipe? Tell us in the comments.