Greek Roast Lamb

Roast Lamb Shoulder Recipe

Greek-style - serve with a simple Greek salad. 

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With the gorgeous weather, we've been having here lately, no one including myself wants to spend hours in the kitchen cooking. 

*This post has been updated in October 2021 and I must point out we don't have gorgeous weather right now, instead, it's raining!

My Greek-style roast lamb fits in perfectly and the lovely spices remind me of holidays in Greece, when it's cooking, your kitchen will smell amazing. 

Food that's simple to prepare and requires little looking after is what I'm after.

Hopefully, the coming bank holiday weekend will also be nice and sunny (and dare I say it) perhaps even warm enough to have a BBQ.

I have to point out I've never tried to cook a whole piece of lamb like this on a BBQ but if you're all clued up, then I say go for it! Otherwise, pop it into a roasting pan and into the oven.

What to serve it with

• Pitta bread (stuff with as much lamb as you can)! 

• Greek Salad

• Lemon Roasted Potatoes

• A simple green salad

• Slice the lamb and add to a salad along with some cooked new potatoes

Serving size is anything from 6 to say 10 people depending on how you serve it and what with; for example, served in pitta bread with a nice Greek salad then this will go a long way.

Meat thermometers

To way to guarantee perfectly cooked food is to use a meat thermometer, I can't live without my Thermapen.

You can read my review of the Thermapen, it's seriously worth buying one.

Not one day goes by without me using it; meat, poultry, fish, cakes - it is vital in order to know if your food is cooked to the correct temperature.

The correct internal temperature of lamb

For medium, you want the internal temperature of lamb to be between:

• 63°C for medium-rare 

• 68°C for medium 

• 77°C for well done

I honestly do not recommend cooking any meat well done, it just ruins it.

Personally, I'd have preferred mine a bit less cooked but Paul (the husband - Mr Fussy) wouldn't have eaten it.

The temperature of my piece of lamb was 70C and I say that's overdone!

roast lamb shoulder, greek roast lamb, roast lamb recipe

main, dinner, lamb

Greek-style

Yield: 6-10

Author: Jan Bennett

Roast Lamb Shoulder - Greek-style

Depending on what you serve with the lamb it will serve a good amount of people if you slice and stuff it into pitta bread with salad.

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 1 H & 25 MInactive time: 30 MinTotal time: 2 H & 5 M

Ingredients

You will also need butcher

• 1 kg boneless shoulder of lamb
• 1 lemon - slice half and keep the juice of the other half
• 80 ml dry white wine

• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• a pinch of sea salt
• a pinch of black pepper
• 1 sprig of fresh rosemary - leaves only and chopped finely
• Thyme - freshly picked leaves only to make about 2 teaspoons
• 3 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

1. Get yourself a small bowl and add all the spice mix ingredients including the olive oil and mix together.
2. Remove the string and unroll the shoulder of lamb (if yours is rolled and tied with string as mine was).
3. Lay it out and rub all over with the spices - concentrate on the top and then the underside. You should have enough spice mix to cover a 1kg piece of lamb.
4. Once unrolled the piece of lamb will be long and thin, so fold it in half once so it's two thicknesses instead of just one.
5. Put the lamb in a dish and cover with cling film then into the fridge and leave for at least 30 minutes - longer is good so the meat can take on those lovely spices.
6. Now, this bit is important, like any meat you should always remove it from the fridge at least 30 minutes before you are ready to cook so it can come to room temperature.
7. When you're ready, transfer the lamb to a suitably sized roasting tin. Add the lemon juice to a glass of wine, pour into the tin and add the lemon slices.
8. Drizzle with a little olive oil and cover loosely with foil.
9. Put on the middle shelf of a preheated oven for about 1 hour and 10 minutes.
10. Remove the foil and baste with the wine and lemon juice. Put it back into the oven uncovered now for a further 15 minutes or so until cooked to your liking; it's best to test the temperature using a meat thermometer - see below.
11. The exact timing of course will depend on the thickness of your meat, your oven as all ovens cook differently; and how well you like your meat cooked.
12. Remember once you remove it from the oven and cover it with foil the meat will continue to gain heat.
13. It is important that you let the meat rest, cover it with foil and leave it for ten minutes before carving.

Meat thermometers are the way to go!

1. The best way is to use a meat thermometer;
2. You want the internal temperature of lamb to be
3. Medium 63°C
4. Medium-rare 68°C
5. Well done 77°C (but chances are it will be dry) so I do not recommend it

Did you make this recipe?

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