Slow Roasted Moroccan Spiced Leg of Lamb
Slow Roasted Moroccan Spiced Leg of Lamb is so tender it falls off the bone, melts in your mouth and is served with a cacophony of golden Moroccan gravy flavors.
Prep Time15 minutes mins
Cook Time5 hours hrs
Marinating Time (Refrigerator Time)8 hours hrs
Total Time13 hours hrs 15 minutes mins
Course: Mains
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Diet: Diabetic, Gluten Free
Servings: 8 people
Calories: 285kcal
Marinade
- 1 Onion (peeled and roughly chopped)
- 2 tablespoon Olive oil
- 2 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon turmeric ground
- 1 pinch saffron (1 small pinch in ⅛ cup hot water)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon ground
- 2 teaspoon cumin ground
- 1 teaspoon coriander ground
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon sugar or sugar substitute (if not following a low carb diet then can add honey)
- 1 cup parsley roughly chopped
Roast
- 4.5 pounds Leg of lamb semi boneless
- 2 onions (peeled and quartered)
- 10 cloves garlic whole peeled (6- embedded in the leg of lamb and 4 for the bottom on the pan)
- 1 heavy duty aluminum foil large piece big enough to seal the roast.
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- Salt and pepper to taste
Golden Sauced Gravy
- juice from the pan strained
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 3 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon butter
Garnish
- 1 tablespoon parsley chopped optional
Create the Marinade
In a food processor add onions, olive oil, paprika, turmeric, saffron water, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper to taste, parsley and sugar substitute. Blend until well incorporated - thick paste.
Determine what time you want to eat dinner!
For a 4.5 pound semi-boneless leg of lamb it was 30 minutes of browning in the oven, then followed by reducing the temperature and adding the aromatics and liquids and braised covered for 3 hours and then 30 – 60 minutes of browning and 20 minutes of resting and making the gravy for a total of 4 hours and 45 minutes of cooking. If you want to eat around 6 pm… start the process around 1pm in the afternoon.
Temp high:Brown the Leg of Lamb
Preheat oven to (425 F or 218 C)
Place the chopped onions and extra garlics at the bottom of the pan. Place the marinated leg of lamb on top of vegetables and season to taste with salt and pepper and drizzle with fresh lemon juice. Roast UNCOVERED for about 30 minutes with the fat side up just until browned nicely. Keep an eye on it, so it does not get too browned. Check it at 15-20 minutes.
Temp down: Low and slow roast the leg of lamb covered
Remove the leg of lamb from the oven. Reduce the temperature to (300 degrees F- 148 C). Turn the leg of lamb upside down with the fat side down. Pour the chicken broth around the leg of lamb. Cover tightly with heavy duty aluminum foil.
Place the leg of lamb back in the oven and cook for about 3 hours at this lower temperature. Check on it after 2 hours to make sure that you still have liquid in the pan and that the leg of lamb is starting to get tender. After the 3rd hour, check to see that the leg of lamb is tender, almost falling off bone.
Temp up: 325F and finish lamb uncovered
Make Golden Sauce Moroccan Gravy
In the meantime, strain your juice to remove garlic and onions, (REMOVE the OIL from the top of the pan sauce with a spoon. You will have a lot of oil) place in a sauce pan and heat with cornstarch slurry until the back of a spoon clings. Remove from the stovetop and add a dab of butter and stir. Check and adjust seasoning.
There are 5 distinct steps to cooking your Slow Roasted Moroccan Spiced Leg of Lamb…
1) Overnight marinade with spices and fresh herbs
2) Searing the leg of lamb in the oven at a higher temperature (425 F or 218 C)
3) Roasting and Braising the leg of lamb at a very low temperature for a long time. (300 degrees F- 148 C)
4) Browning and basting the leg of lamb (325 F or 162 C)
5) Making the delicious golden Moroccan gravy
Serving: 1half pound cooked lamb | Calories: 285kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 34g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 107mg | Sodium: 228mg | Potassium: 632mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 928IU | Vitamin C: 18mg | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 4mg