Roast Lamb with Homemade Mint Sauce

Prepare your lamb by inserting slices of garlic into the skin all over the roast top and bottom. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and ground rosemary. Place roast fat side up and roast your leg of lamb at 450 F for 20 minutes then turn down the roast to 350 F continue cooking for approximately 25 minutes per pound.

When lamb has reached temperature for medium rare, remove from oven, cover with tinfoil and let it rest for 10 minutes. Juices will reabsorb into center of meat.

Nothing is better with lamb than mint sauce. This sauce is a good reason to grow mint. Prepare the mint sauce the day before if you wish. You can strain out the leaves and shallots if you prefer with a cheesecloth. If you slightly submerge a gravy dipper into the sauce you can eliminate most mint leaves. I used unrefined cane sugar hence the amber color which is actually quite appealing spooned over the lamb meat.

Chop approximately two bunches of fresh mint leaves removed from stems (about one cup loosely packed). Stack mint leaves in a pile lengthwise and roll and then chop. For smaller leaves fold in half an chop.

In a non reactive pot (porcelain coated or stainless steel) add one cup of white wine vinegar, one cup of sugar and one shallot chopped fine. Bring to boil and boil for two minutes. Remove from heat and add chopped mint leaves. Steep at room temperature in a glass bowl for two hours. Sauce can be made a day ahead of time and refrigerated. Take sauce out of refrigerator one hour before lamb has completed it's cooking. Set on top of stove to warm up.

I served the lamb with roasted vegetables and even the vegetables were delicious with a spoonful of the mint sauce. The mint sauce can be used on a salad, over chicken, pork who knows what else. Thanks for reading and for all your comment.