We buy boneless legs of lamb at Costco, cut them into three pieces, and freeze them individually. Leg of lamb is great roasted, grilled, stewed, and ground for burgers.

When we lived in San Francisco, we used to roast it. While delicious, this can leave your whole house smelling like lamb for days, and the drippings in the roasting pan are hard to clean. Now that we have a patio and a grill, we can get an even better char on the outside by grilling it, without the messy clean-up or lingering smell.

If you don’t have a grill, it’s still worth it to roast it in the oven.  Cover your pan in foil before putting the lamb in it, so that you won’t have to scrub the pan as much.  For whatever reason, lamb fat is very hard to clean. Keep a window or door open while cooking, to allow the smell to escape.

We served last night’s lamb with roasted yukon gold potatoes, cauliflower roasted with cumin seeds, yogurt and mint sauce (recipe below), and chili sauce.

Grilled Lamb

1 lb of boneless leg of lamb
2 tsp dried oregano
kosher salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
black pepper
juice of 1/2 lemon
olive oil

Season the lamb generously with salt, pepper, oregano, garlic, and black pepper. Add the olive oil and lemon juice, cover, and marinate in the refrigerator for 4 hours.

Grill on medium-high heat for 12 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness of your lamb. (Butterfly it for quicker cooking time.) Remove from heat and rest for at least 10 minutes to allow the juices to redistribute, then slice against the grain.

Yogurt and Mint Sauce

8 oz plain Greek yogurt
juice of 1/2 lemon
pinch of salt
2 T chopped mint

Put all ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine.