Instructions:

Oven Roasted Leg of Lamb with Rosemary au jus

1 (4-5 pound) leg of lamb, butterflied
4 ounces olive oil, divided
1 tablespoon parsley, minced
1 tablespoon thyme leaves, minced
1 tablespoon oregano, minced
1 tablespoon rosemary,
1 sprig rosemary
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons peppercorns, cracked
1 medium tomato, chopped
4 ounces white wine
12 ounces beef stock

Ask your butcher to butterfly the leg of lamb and not tie it off like a roast. You get to do that yourself. You can, however, ask your butcher for 6 to 8 pieces of butcher twine at 12 inches each.

Place the lamb on a cutting board, skin side down. Brush the meat with olive oil. Using half of the herbs and spices season the inside of the lamb. Roll the lamb up and using the pieces of butcher's twine, placed under the meat tie each piece of string around the lamb. Tie each string parallel to each other spaced about three-quarter inches from each other. Strings should be snug. Brush the outside with olive oil and season the outside with the remaining herbs, salt and pepper.

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a roasting pan placed over moderate heat, add the remaining olive oil. When it lightly smokes add the tied-off lamb and brown on all sides. Remove lamb from roasting pan, pour out excess oil, replace lamb into pan and place in preheated oven until a thermometer plunged into the middle of the roast reads 130 degrees F, about an hour.

When lamb is finished, remove from oven. Place meat on a platter and let rest 20 minutes before slicing.

Meanwhile place pan with dripping on your stove top over medium heat. Add 4 ounces of white wine, tomato and rosemary sprig and let reduce until almost dry. Add beef stock and let reduce by half. Strain and use to sauce the sliced lamb. Serve with your favorite mashed potato.

Serves six.

Nutrition values per serving: 889 calories, 59 g fat, 2 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 79 g protein, 281 mg cholesterol, 1,604 mg sodium