If there is something I love to do for big parties than it is roasted lamb.
If you have to prepare for a birthday or name day party in Greece, you have to prepare for a large company. If we invite for these occasions we invite for 15-20 persons. And it is Greek tradition that nobody leaves hungry! So you need a lot of food to serve.
One of the most easiest dishes in Greek cuisine is roasted lamb. But you do not serve just a small lamb carrée as they show on TV shows. You have to serve the whole lamb! Traditionally it is grilled over hot coals turning slowly on a skew for several hours.
When I prepare lamb for a big company as mentioned above we always by the one half of the lamb and I cook it in the oven. On the picture below you can see how the butcher prepares the lamb. The pre-cutting is very important to serve the lamb when it is ready.
What you need:
The half of a lamb (appr. 3-4 kg)
Salt
How to prepare:
Wash the meat under running water to remove the small pieces of bones from the cutting. Place the meat on a tin with the skin-side down, do not dry. Add salt from both sides.
Tip from Mama Marika (my lovely Greek mother-in-law): it doesn’t matter how much salt you apply on the meat. The lamb will take as much salt as it needs to be tasty. So be generious!
Place the meat in the pre-heated oven on 180-200ºC and cook for 45 minutes. Turn the skin side up and let cook for another 45-50 minutes until the skin turned golden brown and crunchy.
Cut the meat into pieces and serve.
Eat Good Live Good 