Herbed Leg of Lamb with Roasted Turnips

By khojnicki

Ingredients

• 1 7-9 lb bone in leg of lamb
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3 lemons
• 3 lbs baby turnips with greens
• 6 bunches of scallions
• 1 c fresh parsley
• 1 c fresh dill
• 1/4 c fresh marjoram
• 3 inner celery stalks, roughly chopped
• 3 cloves garlic
• 6 plum tomatoes, quartered
• 2 tbsp EVOO

Details

Servings 8
Preparation time 60mins
Cooking time 270mins

Preparation

Step 1

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 500 degrees F. Using a paring knife, make deep cuts, 2" apart all over the lamb; rub with 2 tbsp salt and several grinds of pepper. Transfer the lamb to a roasting pan, fat side up. Squeeze the juice of 1 lemon on top.

Roast the lamb until most of the fat is rendered and the skin starts to brown, about 30 mins. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 30-40 mins. Discard the fat from the pan and set aside.

Meanwhile, trim the greens from the turnips and reserve. Cut large turnips in half.

Roughly chop 2 bunches scallions and transfer to a food processor. Add the parsley, dill, marjoram, celery and garlic and pulse to form a coarse paste. Holding the bone, stand the leg of lamb up and rub paste all over it; return to roasting pan.

Cut the remaining 4 bunches of scallions into 2" pieces. Scatter scallions, turnips and tomatoes around the lamb and season with salt and pepper. Squeeze the juice of the remaining 2 lemons over the lamb and drizzle with olive oil. Loosely cover with foil.

Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and roast for 1 hour. Uncover and continue roasting until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 145 degrees F for medium, 30-40 mins. Let rest 15 mins. Serve with vegetable and pan juices.