Saturday Night on the Grill...Butterflied Leg of Lamb

The best and quickest way to cook a leg of lamb on the grill, is to have your butcher butterfly it. What this means is that the leg of lamb is first deboned and the meat unfolded and spread out. This produces a more uniform thickness, particularly after you pound it, and allows for the meat to cook evenly from end to end. It also creates more area for grilling so that more of the meat takes on that wonderful charcoal taste.

You can ask the butcher to tie the meat back into a roast after butterflying but this involves a longer cooking time on the grill.

The secret here is the marinade so plan ahead so the lamb can start marinading the night before.

3 lbs butterflied leg of lamb
1 TB Dijon mustard
1/2 cup olive oil
6 mashed cloves garlic
2 TB fresh rosemary leaves
salt and pepper

Place the leg of lamb in a big ziplock bag add the marinade and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Take out of the refrigerator 1 hour before ready to cook. Light your charcoal or gas grill to medium high. Take lamb out of bag, dry with paper towels and add salt and pepper. Brush some olive oil on grill. Place the lamb on the grill, initially pressing down with tongs to make sure lamb is evenly in contact with grill and char 5 to 6 minuted, rotating 90 degrees halfway through. Flip, brush with marinade and cook another 5-6 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted in thickest part registers 125 degrees.Make sure you also rotate 90 degrees halfway through cooking.

Remove from grill and let rest about 10 minutes. Slice and serve.

This is wonderful with the Cauliflower Gratin or Pommes Anna!