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Home > All Recipes > French Meat Recipes

Succulent Roast Leg Of Lamb

Published: Sep 20, 2021 · Modified: Nov 23, 2024 by Judith Coates · This post may contain affiliate links · Leave a Comment

There are a variety of recipes for roasting a leg of lamb but the following is excellent, and its simplicity brings out the wonderful flavor of the lamb and never fails to please.
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Large golden brown leg of lamb in roaster surrounded by green, pinkish, and orange vegetables.

Gigot de Pre-sale Roti

The simplicity of this recipe is wonderful in the way it brings out the flavor of the lamb and never fails to please. There are a variety of recipes for roasting lamb but this one is excellent, and a perfect family meal for Sunday dinner and is the most favored food for Easter in France.

Large golden brown leg of lamb in roaster surrounded by green, pinkish, and orange vegetables.

✅About

In French Roast Leg Of Lamb is called "Gigot D'Agneau Roti," and in this case "Gigot de Pre-sale Roti" specifically "Leg of Pre-sale Roast" is a type of lamb which is raised in salt marsh meadows of France and elsewhere in Europe and UK.

How To Decide On Size Of Roast

The size of your leg of lamb depends on how many you are cooking for. A 6 pound (2.70kg) leg of lamb will feed about 8 people so you can judge by this what weight you will need.

Your butcher will even sell you half a leg if it is just for 2 people, so ask him for what you need.

On the other hand if you buy a larger one you will have lots of meals from it.

I also use the bone and left over meat for making a good stock for soups. Like this Veal Stock or Brown Stock which will then become an amazing Lamb Stew.

So a good roast on a Sunday will also give you a meal on Monday and soup throughout the week!

What To Serve With This Roast

A leg of roast lamb in France is sometimes served with navy or fava beans. Served with either boiled new potatoes or Sauteed Potatoes your meal will be complete.

But you can serve it with your own favourite vegetable of course and the main thing is that you enjoy your wonderful roast leg of lamb. A delightful side like Vichy Carrots, and/or Buttery Green Beans will fill out the meal well!

🍷Best Wine To Serve

Of course your roast leg of lamb will really be complete with a glass of your favorite French wine. Try Beaujolais Wine or a full bodied Red Malbec Wine.

Other Flavorsome Recipes

  • Easter Pie Recipe
  • Lamb Rogan Josh
  • Succulent Roast Duck Recipe
  • Red Wine Jus Recipe
  • How To Roast A Turkey

📖 Recipe

Large golden brown leg of lamb in roaster surrounded by green, pinkish, and orange vegetables.

Roast Leg Of Lamb Recipe

Judith Coates
There are a variety of recipes for roasting a leg of lamb but the following is excellent, and its simplicity brings out the wonderful flavor of the lamb and never fails to please.
Print Recipe Pin
Servings 10 people

Ingredients

  • 6 pound/2.7 kilogram leg of lamb
  • 2 ounce/50 gram melted butter
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 large carrot cut into thick pieces
  • 1 onion cut into thick pieces
  • 4 cloves of garlic optional
  • 1 cup/½ pint of brown stock
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 large roasting tin about 1½ inches deep

Instructions
 

  • Dry your lamb with kitchen towel – this helps it to brown nicely.
  • Pre-set your oven to 230°C (450°F/Gas 8)
  • Brush the lamb with melted butter or use a mix of butter and olive oil.
  • Place the lamb in the roasting tin and put into the pre-heated oven for about 15 minutes.
  • Turn and baste the lamb every 15 minutes, or until it starts to brown on all sides.
  • Now re-set your oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4) and continue cooking for about 30 minutes.
  • Place your carrots and onions around the lamb. Some recipes suggest putting them in at the start, but I find that they will cook before the meat and sometimes burn, so leave them until about 30 minutes into the cooking time.
  • Place the garlic cloves, in their jackets, around the meat 30 minutes before the meat is ready.
  • Continue to cook your lamb for about 1 hour or until it is how you like it. If you want your lamb rare, cook for about 1–1½ hours, leave it a little longer if you want it cooked medium rare.
  • Place your roast leg of lamb on a warm  plate. Allow it to 'rest' for about 30 minutes before carving. (This is the time that I start to cook the potatoes and green beans I serve with it) 
  • Remove most of the fat out of the roasting pan.
  • Add the stock or bouillon and bring to the boil.
  • Scrape all the meat juices and mash the vegetables into the stock as it makes a very tasty gravy. Squeeze the garlic out of their jackets if you have cooked these as well and mash into the gravy.
  • Add salt and pepper to taste.
  • When ready to serve, strain all the gravy into a sauce boat.

Notes

A good tip here is if the juices run red when pricked with a fork, it is rare, and if they are paler, it is medium rare.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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Owner, home chef, food writer, & creator of this website where I share my collection of appetizing French cuisine recipes. My goal is to remove all your misconceptions about French food being too finicky or too saucy, it's simply wonderful everyday eating! So, let us get cooking!

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