Herb and Red Wine Rotisserie Leg of Lamb – A Very Merry Grilled Christmas
This holiday season, don't let a burnt turkey ruin your Christmas. Avoid the catastrophe with a Very Merry Grilled Christmas with Herb and Red Wine Rotisserie Leg of Lamb. This classic and seasonal meal is beautiful in presentation and wholly captivating in taste and aromatics from the herbs and marinade. With perfectly cooked meat that falls off the bone, your family will be begging for more. Your family will thank you for it! So avoid the holiday stress this year and bring home the Herb and Red Wine Rotisserie Leg of Lamb.
This preparation uses a marinade before cooking and reserves a portion for basting while on the rotisserie. The marinade combines dry red wine, lemon juice, mint leaves, rosemary, other herbs, garlic, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. It is rubbed into the leg and refrigerated for two hours. The mixture will permeate into the muscle tissue softening, seasoning, and moisturizing the leg to prepare for the grill.
The sauce for basting is simply the reserved marinade thinned out so you can apply it liberally throughout the grilling time.
Using the rotisserie provides uniform cooking and browning at a medium-high temperature. The finished leg sings of moistness, herbal aromas, and caramelized sugars, and it may distract certain family members from seasonal squabbles, thus avoiding a second catastrophe (we can only hope!).
So get your grill going, don't forget the eggnog, and have a Very Merry Grilled Christmas!
Serves: 6-8
Herb and Red Wine Rotisserie Leg of Lamb Ingredients
- bone-in leg of lamb, about 5-7 pounds
For the marinade
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/3 cup beef or vegetable stock
- 3/4 cup fresh mint leaves
- 1/4 cup dry red wine
- juice of 1 lemon
- 3 tablespoons fresh rosemary
- 1 large shallot, roughly chopped
- 5 large leaves of sage
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (use less or omit if preferred)
For the baste
- 1 cup beef or vegetable stock
- 1/4 cup marinade mixture
- dash of salt and black pepper
Herb and Red Wine Rotisserie Leg of Lamb Directions
- Cut away the excess fat from lamb leg. Rise and pat dry.
- Combine marinade ingredients in a food processor. Remove 1/4 cup and set aside.
- Apply the remaining marinade liberally onto the lamb leg. Place into a deep dish, cover, and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Meanwhile, prepare the baste. You can inject some of this mixture directly into the lamb before cooking.
- Preheat the grill to medium heat. This is best done with a drip pan underneath the lamb to prevent drippings from causing a flare-up.
- Putting a bone-in leg of lamb on a rotisserie skewer can be a little challenging. A long thin knife or large metal skewer can be used to make a hole by starting at the bone end and working it through the thickest part of the leg. Finding the center to balance the lamb on the rotisserie rod is essential. Secure with the rotisserie forks tightly. It might be necessary to tie the leg with kitchen twine.
- Place the leg of the lamb on the grill, ensuring it is appropriately centered and able to turn freely. Place a drip pan under and add several cups of water to the pan. Keep the grill on medium to medium-high heat. The water in the pan should not boil. If the grill has a rotisserie burner, use that only. If the grill doesn't have a rotisserie burner but has more than two main burners, use the burners on either side for indirect grilling.
- Grill lamb leg for about 20 to 30 minutes per pound. Check the temperature in the thickest part of the meat, avoiding the bone.
- Once the lamb reaches an internal temperature above 145 degrees F (or higher if desired), remove it from heat and tent it with aluminum foil for 10 -12 minutes. Carve and serve.
Taken from thespruceeats.com https://www.thespruceeats.com/herb-red-wine-rotisserie-leg-lamb-335189