Homestyle Cookin | Junior League Lamb

SPRING COOKING WITH BARBIE BUTZ

Junior League lamb perfect for Easter

BY BARBIE BUTZ

Planning a menu for your Easter Sunday family gathering on April 17? Maybe this recipe for leg of lamb will help you get started. Lamb has traditionally been served for Easter for centuries and continues to be a popular choice.

I found this recipe in one of my Junior League Cookbooks titled Simply Classic, compiled by the Junior League of Seattle and first published in 1993.

According to the League’s Mission Statement, “The Junior League of Seattle is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and to improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable.”

There are other chapters of the organization around the country whose mission is the same. Many of them have also produced cookbooks, which are always filled with top-notch recipes. I hope you will enjoy this one.

Ingredients

• 1 boneless leg of lamb (3 to 3 ½ pounds) • ¼ teaspoon salt black pepper to taste • Stuffing: • 1/3 cup hazelnuts • 4 cups (packed) fresh spinach, washed, stems removed • 1 tablespoon butter or margarine • 1 medium clove garlic, minced • ¾ cup fine, dry bread crumbs • 1/3 cup golden raisins • 1 large egg • ½ plus ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne • 1 tablespoon olive oil

Leg of Lamb Stuffed with Spinach and Hazelnuts

Sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butterfly cut the leg of lamb, or ask the butcher to do it for you. Pound meat to an even thickness. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

For Stuffing: toast hazelnuts in a 350 degree oven for 8 minutes. Allow to cool. Place nuts in a towel and rub together to remove as much of the dark brown husk as possible. Chop nuts coarsely. Increase oven temperature to 375 degrees.

Chop spinach coarsely and cook, uncovered, in a large saucepan with ½-inch of water, for 3 to 4 minutes, turning frequently so it cooks evenly. Drain cooked spinach thoroughly, pressing with back of a large spoon to remove as much moisture as possible. Melt butter in same pan in which spinach was cooked. Add garlic and sauté over medium heat 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat, add hazelnuts, spinach, bread crumbs, raisins, egg, ½ teaspoon cumin, ½ teaspoon cinnamon and cayenne. Mix thoroughly.

Pat stuffing evenly over meat. Roll up from long end and tie with kitchen twine at 1-inch intervals. Place seam side down in a heavy roasting pan. Rub with remaining cumin, cinnamon and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Roast lamb, uncovered, about 20 minutes per pound or until and instant-read thermometer registers 120 degrees for medium-rare.

• ½ cup onion, chopped • ½ cup dry red wine • 1 tablespoon honey • 1 medium clove garlic, smashed • 1 cinnamon stick • 2 cups chicken stock • ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce • ¼ teaspoon ground cumin • ¼ teaspoon salt • 1 pinch cayenne • 1 ½ tablespoons flour • 1 tablespoon butter, softened Combine onion, red wine, honey, garlic and cinnamon stick in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and continue to boil until liquid is syrupy. Add chicken stock, Worcestershire, cumin, salt and cayenne. Bring to a rolling boil and cook 5 minutes. In a small bowl, combine flour and butter to make a smooth paste. Slowly add this to the simmering sauce, stirring with a whisk. Cook until slightly thickened, about 5 more minutes. Set aside until lamb is done.

When lamb is done, remove from pan and set on a carving board, tented with foil. Let rest 10 minutes before carving. Drain fat from roasting pan and discard. Set roasting pan on a burner over medium-high heat. Strain sauce into roasting pan. Discard onion, garlic and cinnamon stick. Stir sauce to incorporate lamb drippings, being sure to scrape bottom of roasting pan well. Slice the roast and serve with sauce on the side.