Leg of Lamb

A lemony Greek-inspired marinade brightens this crowd-pleasing (and mostly hands-off) dinner.

This straightforward leg of lamb recipe uses a simple mix of garlic and rosemary to flavor the meat, making a perfect centerpiece for any holiday meal.

Rubbed with garlic, lavender, and other spices, this roast is the perfect centerpiece for a celebration.

We can't think of a better large-format meat. A leg of lamb is fatty and flavorful, and its size makes it hard to overcook.

Pop the garlic-and-rosemary-rubbed leg of lamb and the eggplant spears into the oven together and they’ll be done at the same time.

In this recipe for classic Turkish kebabs, lamb marinates in tomato paste and a mix of spices—including cayenne pepper, cinnamon, and cumin—before hitting the grill.

Any tender herb or green can be used in this riff on a traditional Georgian spring dish, but cilantro and dill make an exceptional, traditional pairing.

If you want to stuff the roast as pictured, ask your butcher for a butterflied leg, not tied. Double the ingredients for the rub recipe and smear half onto lamb, then roll and tie it, and smear with the rest of the rub before roasting.

A specialty of Kerala, this simple, spiced-up stir-fry makes for a quick, hearty dinner.

This cassoulet is filled to the brim with white beans, lamb, garlic sausage, and smoked sausage (and breadcrumbs), but you can make yours with pork or ham, goat, or duck. Whatever you use, keep the proportions similar to those listed below, and you can’t lose.

If you really want to go all out, you can brown the lamb in a wood-burning oven (erm, if you've got one handy) where it could absorb smoky flavors. For the rest of us mere mortals, that step for this recipe can be done in a hot oven.

This Flintstonian cut is impressive, and the bone lends flavor as the meat braises. But if you prefer, a boneless tied leg of lamb is a little more manageable and cooks more quickly.

Ask your butcher for a whole leg, which will include part of the sirloin.

Serve this with storebought flatbread or go to bonappetit.com/flatbread for Mullen's easy recipe.

Affordable leg of lamb is a great way to break out of the usual beef-chicken-pork rut, especially when used in a quick-cooking but complex-tasting dish like this.

A surprisingly easy sweet-tart lamb roast is just the thing to feed a crowd this Easter.

Ask for the smallest lamb your butcher has (like those from New Zealand), or buy a 3 1/2-4-pound piece of a leg.

Lamb is a classic at Easter, particularly leg of lamb. Increasingly, though, lamb legs are sold boned, or even better, boned and butterflied, which makes them ideal for summer grilling. But for Easter, a boneless lamb leg (readily available at the big-box stores) becomes something irresistible to stuff, and because there's no bone, it's a dream to carve. Here, we season the meat all over with a garlicky, lemon- and oregano-scented paste, then spread a flavorful, wilted-arugula filling over the lamb and roll it up. Don't be dismayed by the ragtag appearance of the uncooked roast. Just tie it securely and you will be amazed at how delicious it looks when it comes out of the oven. The vegetables surrounding the lamb not only absorb some of the lamb juices but also create a complete and nutritious meal in a roasting pan. Editor's Note: This recipe is part of Gourmet's Modern Menu for Easter. Menu also includes Frisée, Radicchio, and Fennel Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette; and Lemon Pudding with Strawberries and Meringue Cigars.

I really prefer the texture of fresh pappardelle with the savory lamb stew; it just seems to absorb the flavors better. If you can’t find fresh pappardelle, though, the dried kind is perfectly acceptable, and it’s good to have on hand to toss with any leftover braised meats and their braising liquid for a quick, warming meal.

Until fairly recently the best lamb was a luxury that could be found only in spring. Today, modern farming techniques make such lamb available year-round, although many of us still keep to tradition, preparing a roasted leg of lamb on Easter or Passover. The term “leg of lamb” generally refers to the hind leg and hip of the animal. Though the cut can be pricey, it is very straightforward to prepare, even for the novice home cook. For this recipe, the lamb is “larded” with slivers of garlic along with fresh rosemary and thyme, to infuse it with flavor. The pan sauce is flavored with Dijon mustard and red wine, then thickened with a paste of equal parts softened butter and flour. This classic thickener is called buerre manie, and is often used to thicken stews and braises, including the cider-braised pork on page 183.