Roast Lamb, Breton-Style

Total time: 60 minutes
     I love beans or lentils with lamb.  These are simmered with sage and rosemary, then stirred into the pan juices from the roasted lamb.  I used a partially boned saddle of lamb that weighed 28oz (850gr), for a bone-in leg you'd want about closer to the 3 lbs (1.5kilo) To get a good leg (or shoulder) of lamb a meat thermometer is invaluable. There will (most likely) be leftovers.....  

 Ingredients:

• 1 piece of lamb for roasting, leg, shoulder, saddle, 1.5 - 2.5 lb, (800-1500 gr) depending on bone, 900gr, 32oz, lean, well-trimmed leg shank roast
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 2 cloves garlic, 8gr, .28oz
• 1 19oz (600gr) can cannellini (white kidney beans), about 2 cups beans, 360gr, 12.7oz, drained, rinsed
• 1 leek, 80gr, 2.8oz
• 1 small carrot, 60gr, 2.1oz
• 1 rib celery, 50gr, 1.8oz
• 2 cloves garlic, 8gr, .28oz
• 2 tsp olive oil, 9gr, .32oz
• 1 tbs dried sage
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 3/4 cups whole tomatoes, 425gr, 15oz
• 2 tbs white wine, 30gr, 1oz
• 2 tbs chicken stock, 28gr, 1oz

 Instructions:

• White Beans:  Clean and slice leek.
• Chop celery, carrot and mince garlic. 
• Drain beans. 
• Heat oil in medium skillet.   Add leeks, celery, carrot and garlic and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. 
• Add herbs and beans.
• Drain tomatoes, reserving juice/sauce for soup.  Roughly chop tomatoes and add to beans. 
• Cover reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes or until carrots are tender. 
• When lamb is done remove from pan and add the beans to lamb roasting pan along with chicken stock and wine.  Stir to loosen the brown bits and combine flavors. 
• Lamb:  Peel and cut garlic into slivers, 10 - 12 in all. 
• Make slits all over the lamb with the point of a sharp knife.  Insert a sliver of garlic into each slit. 
• Sprinkle with rosemary.
• Place the lamb in a roasting pan just large enough to hold it easily.  Roast in 450F (230C) oven for 20 minutes.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 400F (200C) and roast for another 15 minutes per pound, or until done to your liking.  If the pan juices start to burn add a couple of tbs of hot water.  Use a meat thermometer, if you have one and roast to 130F (54C) for rosy or cut and peak. When done, remove the lamb, cover loosely with foil and let rest.
• Add beans and stock to pan, scraping and stirring with a spatula to get all the browned bits.
• To Serve: Spoon beans onto a platter.  Slice some of the lamb, arrange on beans, along with the rest of the roast and serve.

Leftovers?  Make Risotto...

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Nutrition Information               Recipe serves 4            Entire Recipe / per serving Calories:  2461 / 615 Total Carbohydrates:  133 / 33           Dietary Fiber: 32 / 8 Total Fat:  116 / 29          Saturated Fat: 46 / 11.5 Cholesterol:  608 / 152 Protein:  214 / 53.5 Calcium:  640 / 160 Sodium:   2149 / 537

General Technical Details and Disclaimer:

Measurements are actual measurements used for calculation. If there are no values the nutritional numbers were simply too small.

I try to be accurate, but I do not guarantee it.  I use 'grams' as the unit of weight; with an approximate conversion to ounces.

My information comes from my own digital, computerized scale and the USDA Nutrient Data Library: http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/