Braised lamb leg Mediterranean style in olive tomato sauce served with roasted potatoes garnished with freshly crushed peppercorns. The meat will just fall off the bone, no knife required! This dinner is easy and quick to prepare and will cook while you work or chill.
I am a fan of braised meat in all variations. Especially for lamb, I enjoy this form of cooking as it reduces the musky taste of the meat. What I love most about this preparation method is, that it is very easy to prepare and basically cooks itself in the oven, while I am busy doing other things. This recipe for a Mediterranean style lamb leg is a very low effort with big results. The tomato based gravy with carrots and olives is flavorful and the meat is so tender and juicy, it will simply fall off the bone.
Inspired by the traditional Italian dish "Osso Buco", which is thick slices of veal shanks braised with vegetables in a white wine based sauce, I created this meal as an Easter dinner. I decided to use cross-cut slices from a leg of lamb and braise it in a red wine based tomato sauce with olives and vegetables. Since then, I have made it multiple times as an easy weekend dinner, as well as for family and friends.
Ingredients
This is what you will need for the leg of lamb Mediterranean style with roasted potatoes. A detailed list with measurements is provided in the recipe card on the bottom of the page 👇
For the lamb
- Lamb leg (cut in ~1 ½ inch thick slices)
- Butter
- Sweet onion
- Garlic
- Carrots
- Canned tomatoes
- Red wine
- Sugar
- Salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- Green olives
- Kalamata olives
- Thyme
For the potatoes
- Potatoes
- Salt
- Crushed pepper corns
- Olive oil
Substitutions and Tips
The Meat
Like most people, I don't enjoy the overly strong musky taste lamb meat can have at times. I have learned from past experience, that you can reduce the musky flavor by following a few easy rules. Firstly, I try not to purchase frozen lamb and buy local and as fresh as possible. Others might disagree, but I have tried both and have always preferred fresh over frozen.
Secondly, I remove large chunks of fat as the fat carries hormones, which cause a musky flavor. However, make sure not to remove all the fat, or else the meat will become dry.
The last flavor influencer is the age of the lamb. That is really nothing you have an impact on, but the younger the lamb, the less of the "lamb taste" the meat will have.
For this recipe, I use meat from a leg of lamb (bone-in) and ask the butcher to have it cross-cut into slices that are roughly 1 ½ inches thick. You want the bone to be in, as it has a major impact on the juiciness of your lamb roast.
Can't handle the taste of lamb? No Problem! Use veal shanks instead and follow the recipe in the same way.
The Olives
You can really use any type of olives you like, stuffed or non-stuffed or no olives at all, totally up to you. I used green olives (pitted), as well as Kalamata olives, which I pitted myself. To my experience, Kalamata and black olives tend to become mushy when purchased pitted and I, therefore, prefer to remove the pit myself. My favorite green olives are Spanish olives. However, those are not always easy to get here in Canada.
Go alcohol free
A lot of people are not comfortable cooking with alcohol, especially when kids are sitting at the dining table. Even though the alcohol itself evaporates during cooking, there are many reasons why you may prefer not to use wine in your food. Simply substitute the red wine for beef or vegetable broth or even just water. Just make sure to start off with less salt and adjust according to your liking if the broth you use is salted.
How to make it
For the Lamb
- Sear the sliced lamb leg: Melt the butter in hot pan and sear the meat with the onions on high heat until the meat is roasted gold-brown on all sides and set the meat aside. I recommend a stainless steel or cast iron pan for this step.
- The Gravy: Using the same pan as for the meat and onions to retain all the valuable roasting flavours, fry the sliced garlic until golden and deglaze with the red wine (or broth, if you prefer not to use wine) and add the thyme, salt, pepper and sugar. Let the gravy simmer for a few minutes to allow the settings to dissolve from the bottom of the pan.
- Prepare the sauce: While searing the meat, fill the canned tomatoes into a roaster or dutch oven. Try to break down the tomatoes using a cooking spoon or potato masher.
- Add the vegetables: Stir the carrots and olives into the crushed tomatoes and place the seared meat and roasted onions on top of the tomato vegetable mix.
- Bring it all together: Lastly, pour the red wine gravy over the meat and vegetables and place the roaster in the preheated oven.
- Roast the lamb for 2.5 hours in the preheated oven at 300° F with the lid closed.
- Increase the heat: After the 2.5 hours of cooking, increase the temperature to 400° F, remove the lid and roast for another 20 minutes. At this point, place the pan with the potatoes in the oven as well.
- Rest the lamb: Remove the roaster from the oven and cover with the lid. Let the meat rest as long as the potatoes are broiling.
Roasted Potatoes
- Prepare the potatoes: Peel the potatoes and cut into cubes.
- Roughly crush the Peppercorns using a mortar and pestle if you have one, or use pre-crushed peppercorns. Alternatively, you can fill the peppercorns into a zip lock bag or wrap them into a piece of parchment paper and gently crush them using a pan or the flat side of a meat tenderizer. Be careful not to damage your kitchen counter if you choose this option and place the peppercorns on a cutting board.
- Mix the potatoes, olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Next, spread the potato cubes on a baking tray and place in the oven with the lamb when you increase the temperature to 400° F, bake for 20 minutes.
- Roast the potatoes: After removing the lamb, broil the wedges on high for 5-10 minutes until the potatoes are crispy and golden.
Alternative Side Dishes
If you are looking for alternatives to the roasted potatoes suggested to serve with this Mediterranean lamb leg, I would also recommend the following delicious side dishes:
Mediterranean Lamb Leg
Ingredients
Lamb Leg
- 2.5 lbs lamb leg (sliced in ~1 ½ inch slices)
- 3 tablespoon butter
- 1 large sweet onion, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced
- 1 bunch carrots, roughly chopped
- 1 can whole peeled tomatoes (24oz / 796 ml)
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 20 green olives, pitted and sliced
- 20 kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
- 10 branches thyme
Roasted Potatoes
- 2 lbs potatoes (all purpose, not starchy)
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon crushed pepper corns
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
For the lamb
- Melt the butter in hot pan
- Sear the meat with the onions on high heat until gold-brown on all sides.
- Using the same pan as for the meat and onions, fry the sliced garlic until golden and deglaze with the red wine and add the thyme, salt pepper and sugar.
- Let the wine, garlic mix simmer for a few minutes to allow the settings to dissolve from the bottom of the pan.
- While searing the meat, fill the tomatoes into a roaster. Break down down the tomatoes using a cooking spoon or potato masher.
- Add the carrots and olives to the crushed tomatoes.
- Place the seared meat and roasted onions on top of the tomato vegetable mix and pour the red wine gravy over the meat and vegetables.
- Roast the lamb for 2.5 hours in the preheated oven at 300° F with the lid closed.
- After the 2.5 hours, increase the temperature to 400° F, remove the lid and roast for another 20 minutes. At this point, place the pan with the potatoes in the oven as well.
Roasted Potatoes
- Peel the potatoes and cut into cubes.
- Mix the potatoes in a bowl with the olive oil, salt and crushed peppercorns
- Spread the cubes on a baking tray and place in the oven with the lamb when you increase the temperature to 400° F, bake for 20 minutes.
- After removing the lamb, broil the wedges on high for 5-10 minutes until the potatoes are golden.
Susan says
Melted in our mouth. The herbs infused such beautiful flavours into the lamb. The kids did not complain about my cooking tonight 🙂
Alexa says
Thanks so much Susan!
Bozena says
I am planning to cook lamb this way on Sunday. I will let you know how it comes out. Sounds so delicious.