Garlic and Herb-Crusted Lamb

Yield: 20 servings (serving size: 3 ounces lamb and 2 tablespoons sauce)

Ingredients

• 4  whole garlic heads
• 1  tablespoon  Dijon mustard
• 1  tablespoon  olive oil
• 1  tablespoon  thinly sliced fresh chives
• 1  tablespoon  fresh thyme leaves, coarsely chopped
• 1  (8-pound) leg of lamb
• 12  fresh garlic slices
• 1 1/4  teaspoons  salt, divided
• 1/2  teaspoon  freshly ground pepper
• 2  cups  fresh French breadcrumbs (about 4 ounces)
• 2 1/4  cups  low-salt beef broth
• 1/2  cup  Merlot or other dry red wine
• 2 1/2  tablespoons  cornstarch
• Fresh thyme sprigs (optional)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Remove white papery skin from garlic heads (do not peel or separate the cloves). Cut off top portions of garlic heads. Wrap garlic heads in foil. Bake at 350° 1 hour; cool 10 minutes. Squeeze garlic heads to extract pulp. Discard skins. Place garlic pulp, mustard, and oil in a food processor; process until smooth. Stir in chives and thyme leaves.

Increase oven temperature to 425°.

Trim fat from lamb. Cut 12 3/4-inch slits in lamb; place a fresh garlic slice in each slit. Sprinkle surface of lamb with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper; rub with roasted garlic paste mixture. Press breadcrumbs over surface of lamb. Place lamb on a broiler pan. Insert meat thermometer into thickest part of lamb, making sure not to touch bone.

Bake at 425° for 10 minutes. Decrease oven temperature to 325°. Bake an additional 2 hours and 10 minutes or until thermometer registers 140° (medium-rare) to 155° (medium). Remove lamb from rack; place on a shallow serving platter. Lightly cover with foil; let stand 15 minutes.

Drain fat from bottom of pan (do not scrape pan). Place broiler pan on stovetop over medium-high heat. Add broth, and bring to a boil, scraping to loosen browned bits.

Combine red wine and cornstarch, and stir with a whisk. Add to beef broth, and return to boiling. Cook 1 minute or until mixture is slightly thick, stirring constantly. Stir in 3/4 teaspoon salt, and serve immediately with lamb. Garnish with thyme sprigs, if desired.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

211 (28% from fat)

Fat:

6.6g (sat 2.1g,mono 2.9g,poly 0.7g)

Protein:

25.4g

Carbohydrate:

9.9g

Fiber:

0.4g

Cholesterol:

73mg

Iron:

2.9mg

Sodium:

337mg

Calcium:

40mg