Roasted Lamb
“That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast.”Exodus 12:8
Of all the meals in Scripture, none is more central than the roasted lamb of the Passover. On the night Israel left Egypt, each household was to roast a lamb whole over the fire and eat it with bitter herbs and unleavened bread - a meal remembered every year since. Lamb was the festal meat of the Bible, served for feasts, guests and holy days, and a slow-roasted leg is its most glorious form.
This recipe keeps things simple and ancient: a leg of lamb rubbed with garlic, olive oil and the rosemary and thyme that grow wild across the hills of the Holy Land, then roasted until the outside is burnished and the inside tender and pink. Served with flatbread and herbs, it makes a centerpiece worthy of a feast.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Pat the lamb dry and make small slits all over the surface with a sharp knife.
- Whisk together the olive oil, garlic, rosemary, thyme, lemon juice, cumin, salt and pepper. Rub it all over the lamb, pressing into the slits. Let it marinate at least 1 hour, or overnight in the fridge.
- Heat the oven to 425F (220C). Place the lamb on a rack in a roasting tin.
- Roast for 20 minutes, then lower the heat to 350F (175C) and roast for about 1 hour 10 minutes for medium (internal temperature 145F / 63C), basting now and then.
- Rest the lamb, loosely covered, for 15 minutes before carving. Serve with flatbread and bitter herbs.
The Story Behind This Recipe
The Passover lamb stands at the center of the biblical story. Roasted whole and eaten in haste on the night of the exodus, it marked the moment Israel was set free, and its memory shaped the calendar and the table for every generation that followed. Meat was a rarity in ordinary biblical life, eaten mainly at feasts and sacrifices, which is what made a roasted lamb such a powerful sign of celebration and deliverance.
Herbs like rosemary, thyme and hyssop grew across the dry hillsides of the region and were the natural companions to roasting meat, along with garlic and good olive oil. A leg of lamb cooked this way needs little else: the long heat renders it tender and deeply savory, the crust scented with the same wild herbs that have flavored the cooking of the Holy Land since ancient times.
| Per serving | Value |
|---|---|
| Calories | 380 |
| Protein | 34g |
| Carbohydrates | 2g |
| Fat | 26g |
| Fiber | 0g |
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