Fabulous Roasted Lamb

This recipe was loosely based on the Roasted Butterflied Leg of Lamb recipe in the Joy of Cooking, with the (also loosely interpreted) Tapenade Stuffing variation.

4.5 pound boneless leg of lamb

Marinade:
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives
6 cloves garlic
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp dried rosemary
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground pepper

Remove as much fat and membrane as possible from the lamb, then unfold and flatten the meat as much as possible.

Mix marinade ingredients together in food processor and process until the mixture forms a smooth paste.

Spread the marinade over the inside of the lamb leg. Roll the meat tightly and tie with kitchen string. If any marinade leaks out during rolling, spread it over the outside of the roll. The roll will not look neat; mine was sort of an amorphous ball.

Refrigerate for 2 to 24 hours.

Remove from refrigerator about 1/2 hour prior to cooking. Preheat oven to 325 F. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and slowly roast the meat for about 1 1/2 hours. It is not possible to speed up this process; roasting slowly at a low temperature ensures that the meat remains tender and pink, but not rare, throughout. If you have a meat thermometer you might check the meat for doneness at this point. Having no such thermometer, I stabbed mine with a knife and peeked around for doneness; it seemed a little too juicy and pink in there, so I raised the temperature to 425 F and roasted for another 15 minutes to make sure.

This turned out perfectly. I was expecting more of a showing from the marinade/stuffing, but it kind of disappeared into the meat somehow. The original recipe called for two cups of olives, but I suspected that might be too powerful and salty a stuffing, so I pared it down substantially and added much more garlic, a significant hit of mustard, and some herbs that I liked. The very very center of this roast was still a tad rare, but the outside edges got only to medium well done, and remained very tender. It turned out to be the best lamb I've had in a while.

The 4.5 pound leg, after I removed at least a pound of fat, made about six servings.