Best Mint Marinated Leg Of Lamb Recipes

GRILLED LEG OF LAMB

Steps:

• Combine the yogurt, olive oil, lemon zest and juice, rosemary, salt, and pepper in a large non-reactive bowl. Add the lamb, making sure it is covered with marinade. Marinate in the refrigerator, covered, overnight or for up to 3 days.
• Bring the lamb to room temperature. Prepare a charcoal grill with hot coals. Scrape the marinade off the lamb, wipe the meat with paper towels, and season it generously with salt and pepper. Brush the grill with oil to keep the lamb from sticking, and grill on both sides until the internal temperature is 120 to 125 degrees for rare. This will take 40 minutes to 1 hour, depending on how hot the grill is.
• Remove the lamb to a cutting board, cover with aluminum foil, and allow to rest for 20 minutes. Then slice and serve.

YOGURT-MINT MARINATED GRILLED LEG OF LAMB

Steps:

• Using a paring knife, make several small slits over the entire surface of the lamb, and stuff the slits with the sliced garlic. Add the yogurt, mint, cumin and hot pepper sauce to the work bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. Place the lamb on a large baking sheet and rub the entire leg with the yogurt mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or overnight.
• Preheat the grill to high. Remove the lamb from the marinade and season well with salt and pepper. Place the lamb, skin side down, on the grill. Grill until the skin side is golden brown, then turn the lamb over, and reduce the heat of the grill to medium so that the grill maintains a constant temperature of 350 degrees F. Continue grilling until a thermometer inserted deep into the meat reaches a temperature of 145 degrees F for medium-rare doneness, about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. Remove lamb from grill, cover with foil, and let rest for 10 minutes. Slice the meat on the bias into 1/4-inch thick slices.

BUTTERFLIED LEG OF LAMB MARINATED IN YOGURT AND MINT

Steps:

• Combine the yogurt, lemon juice, olive oil, scallions, minced garlic, mint, thyme, lemon zest, pepper, and salt in a large bowl and stir to mix. Rub the garlic clove over both sides of the lamb and put the lamb in a shallow glass or ceramic dish. Pour the marinade over the meat and turn it several times to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours. About 30 minutes before grilling, remove the meat from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature.
• Prepare a charcoal or gas grill arranging the coals for indirect cooking. Lightly spray the grill rack with vegetable oil cooking spray. The coals should be hot. Lift the lamb from the marinade, scrape off the excess marinade, and season both sides with salt and pepper. Discard the marinade. Combine the oil and crushed garlic in a small bowl for brushing on the meat.
• Sear the lamb over the hot coals for about 5 minutes on each side, brushing with the olive oil and garlic mixture several times; continue brushing the lamb with the remaining olive oil and garlic mixture during the first 20 minutes of grilling. Move the lamb to the cooler part of the grill, cover, and cook for about 10 minutes. Turn the meat over, cover, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes longer for medium-rare meat, or until cooked to desired doneness. An instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the meat should register 140 degrees for rare meat and 145 to 150 degrees for medium-rare. Let the lamb rest for about 10 minutes before slicing.

YOGURT-MARINATED LEG OF LAMB WITH CARDAMOM AND ORANGE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 425º. Remove as much of the surface fat as is practical from the lamb. Mix together the yogurt, mint, orange zest, cardamom, salt and pepper; rub the meat all over with the yogurt mixture. If you have time, let the lamb sit for an hour or more (refrigerate if it will be much longer).
• Put the lamb on a rack in a roasting pan. (You might line the pan first with aluminum foil to make cleanup easier.) Roast for 30 minutes, then check; if the lamb threatens to burn, turn the heat down to 350º; otherwise leave it at 425º.
• After about 1 hour (total) of roasting, check the internal temperature of the lamb with an instant-read thermometer. Continue to check every 10 minutes; when it reaches 130 for medium rare (125 for very rare) in its thickest part (check it in several places), it's done. Total cooking time will be less than 1 1/2 hours. Let it rest for a few minutes before carving. Serve garnished with more chopped mint.

GRILLED MARINATED LEG OF LAMB WITH ASPARAGUS AND MINT CHIMICHURRI

Steps:

• 1. Stir together the 7 minced garlic cloves, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper in a large bowl. Rub the marinade all over the lamb in a bowl, then truss tightly and marinate at least 3 hours in the refrigerator. 2. Preheat a grill for direct and indirect cooking over a medium-heat fire. Grill the lamb over direct heat until nicely charred, about 8 minutes per side, turning often. Then move to indirect heat, cover, and cook until the internal temperature reaches 125 degrees F for medium-rare, about 50 minutes, turning occasionally. Transfer the lamb to a cutting board and let rest 15 minutes.
• 3. Toss the asparagus with the 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt, and pepper. Grill the asparagus until tender, 6 to 8 minutes.
• 4. Pulse the remaining 2 whole garlic cloves in a food processor with the parsley, mint, the remaining 1/2 cup oil, the remaining 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Serve the lamb, sliced, with the asparagus and chimichurri sauce.

ROAST LEG OF LAMB WITH GINGER AND MINT

Steps:

• Pulse the garlic, ginger, 1 tablespoon olive oil and the paprika in a food processor to make a paste. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic-ginger paste, 1 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until the paste begins to fry slightly, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl; let cool.
• Make about sixteen 1-inch-deep slits all over the leg of lamb with a paring knife. Stuff the chopped mint and some of the garlic-ginger paste into the slits. Rub the remaining paste all over the outside of the lamb. Wrap the lamb in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.
• Bring the lamb to room temperature 30 minutes before roasting. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Unwrap the lamb, season with salt and pepper and place on a rack in a roasting pan. Pour 1 cup chicken broth into the pan. Transfer to the oven and roast until the lamb starts browning, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the remaining 2 cups chicken broth, the vinegar and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil; remove from the heat and set aside.
• Remove the lamb from the oven; baste with the broth mixture. Continue roasting, basting every 30 minutes, until the lamb is golden brown and a thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 130 degrees F, about 1 1/2 more hours. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 20 minutes before slicing.
• Meanwhile, spoon off any excess fat from the pan juices; add the pan juices to the remaining broth. Heat the broth mixture over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until reduced by about one-third, about 5 to 7 minutes. Top the lamb with mint and serve with the broth mixture.

MOROCCAN LEG OF LAMB WITH MINT DRESSING

Steps:

• Score meaty side of lamb in a diamond pattern of 1/4-inch-deep cuts about 1 1/2 inches apart. Season with salt and pepper, and place scored-side up in a large roasting pan.
• In a small bowl, whisk olive oil with lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, harissa, coriander seeds and cumin. Pour marinade over lamb and massage into crevices. Cover pan with aluminum foil and refrigerate 2 1/2 hours or overnight. Remove from refrigerator 1 1/2 hours before cooking to return lamb to room temperature; in last 15 minutes, heat oven to 450 degrees.
• Remove foil from pan and place pan on middle oven rack; turn heat down to 350 degrees. Roast, basting lamb with pan juices every 1/2 hour, until a meat thermometer inserted into thickest part of meat reads 130 degrees, about 1 3/4 hours total. Remove from oven, tent loosely with foil, and let rest 15 minutes before carving. Serve with harissa and mint dressing.

MINT-MARINATED LEG OF LAMB

Steps:

• Mix first 5 ingredients in large glass baking dish. Season with generous amount of pepper. Add lamb, turning to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat oven to 450°F. Drain lamb and transfer to large roasting pan. Season both sides with salt and generous amount of pepper. Arrange fat side down in pan. Roast 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F and continue roasting until thermometer inserted in thickest part of lamb registers 130°F for rare, about 20 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes. Cut into slices. Arrange on platter. Garnish with mint sprigs and serve.