Oven-Roasted Leg of Lamb with Garlic and Rosemary with homemade chicken stock

👨‍🍳 Method

For the homemade chicken stock ✓ Homemade · or skip – back to store-bought

1. 1
   Put the chicken, the onion, carrot, celery, parsley, bay leaves and peppercorns and the water in a pot and bring to a boil. Skim off the foam that rises during the first 15 minutes with a spoon.

   StovePot
2. 2
   Turn down and simmer gently 2.5–3 hours.

   Stove

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
3. 3
   Strain the stock.

   Colander

For the Oven Roast

1. 4
   Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F).

   Oven

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
2. 5
   Cut slits along the meat and insert the garlic cloves into them.

   Knife
3. 6
   Mix the olive oil, salt and black pepper and coat the meat with the mixture.

   Bowl
4. 7
   Heat a cast-iron skillet and brown the meat 3 minutes per side.

   StoveCast-iron pan
5. 8
   Transfer the meat to a baking pan, pour the wine and stock into the bottom and lay the rosemary sprigs on top.

   Baking pan
6. 9
   Bake tightly covered with foil 120 minutes, until the meat softens.

   OvenAluminum foilBaking pan

   💡Shoulder is rich in connective tissue: only long, covered baking, in the steam of the liquids in the pan, makes it tender. The cover comes off only at the end, for browning.

   💡Check by the cue (until…), not just the clock: every oven bakes a little differently.
7. 10
   Bake without the foil 30 minutes, until the meat is browned, tender and falls apart easily with a fork.

   OvenBaking pan
8. 11
   Take out the meat and let rest 10 minutes before carving.

   KnifeCutting board