In Norway, Easter marks the end of the long winter, which surely is a cause to celebrate. Many Norwegians chose to celebrate with an Easter lamb feast.
There are several methods that you can use to cook the lamb, but slow roasting is a pretty safe bet, even without a cooking thermometer. The low heat will cook the lamb through and leave the meat pink and tender.
There are also a lot of safe bets when it comes to sides for lamb. Here in Norway easter lamb is usually prepared with rosemary and garlic, and served with a potato dish of some sort, along with a jus.
Onions, both yellow and red, mint, peas, lemon, and almost any vegetable work well with lamb so feel free to play around and use your intuition.
What wine pairs well with lamb?
Red wine is the classic choice to go with lamb. A lamb roast is quite a hearty meal so it will pair well with a full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot. A Syrah / Shiraz will also work just as well.
If you would rather go with a glass of white wine, wine snobs will tell you not to, and you can tell them to mind their own business! A good rule of thumb is to go for a complex or aromatic white, like a Gruner Veltliner or an oaked aged Chardonnay.
Norwegian Style Slow Roasted Leg of Lamb And Pommes Anna
Ingredients
- One whole leg of lamb
- 5 dl / 2,1 cups water
- Salt & pepper
- 9 garlic cloves
- Rosemary -fresh & dried
- 3 carrots
- 2 yellow onions
- 1 kg potatoes
- 75 g butter
- 6 red onions
- Olive oil
- 1 tbs mustard
- 3 tbs corn starch
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 250 C/480 F, with the grill on. Rub the leg of lamb with plenty of salt & pepper and place it high in the oven for 8 minutes to brown the meat slightly and caramelize the skin.
- Remove the lamb when it has a nice color, but be careful to not leave it in too long under the grill as it will toughen up the meat. Turn the oven down to 90 C/195 F, and switch the grill function off to regular oven settings. Leave the door ajar to let the heat escape while you prepare the rest of the roast.
- Cut the garlic into slices and score small pockets into the roast which you fill with the garlic slices. Rub the roast with plenty of fresh & dry rosemary. Roughly cut the carrots and yellow onions and place them in the tin. Pour over the water, and place the roast on top. Then return to the oven and leave for 5-6 hours until it has reached around 70 C/160 F.
- Slice the potatoes quite thin with a mandoline, melt the butter with 4 garlic cloves, and rosemary. Place a piece of baking paper in a tin and layer the potatoes in a circle, adding salt, pepper, and melted butter between the layers until the tin is filled.
- Bake in the oven at 200C/390 F for around 45 min, until it's golden and crispy on top.
- At the same time bake the onions on the lower rack in a small baking tin. Peel the outer layers, cut the bottoms off to make them stand upright, and score an X on the tops, drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and rosemary. And bake for as long as you bake the Pommes Anna.
- When the lamb roast is done, leave it out to rest while you strain the remaining cooking juices into a pan and bring to a boil. Dissolve the corn starch in a tiny bit of cold water, remove the pan from the heat, and add the mustard and corn starch slowly while stirring. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Let the feast commence!