Roast lamb with potatoes

Roast lamb is not rare elsewhere in Italy, especially in the centre. But we are convinced that nobody eats it the way we do in Abruzzo: maybe because our sheep roam the meadows instead of being kept in cramped pens, maybe it is the clean air, the pure water and the tender grass.

Leg of lamb roasted with potatoes reigns over the table on important occasions, such as Christmas or Easter lunch. And it is very easy to make.

• 1 leg of lamb (about 1.5–2 kg), ideally from around L’Aquila
• 1 kg potatoes
• 6–8 garlic cloves
• Plenty of fresh rosemary
• 1 glass of dry white wine
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 200 °C.
2. Make small cuts all over the meat with a knife and push pieces of garlic and rosemary needles into them.
3. Season the leg with salt, pepper and, for an even better result, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
4. Peel the potatoes, cut them into wedges and arrange them around the meat with oil, salt and rosemary.
5. Put it in the oven; after about twenty minutes pour the white wine over the meat.
6. Keep cooking for about an hour in total, turning the potatoes now and then and basting the meat with the juices, without letting it dry out.

• Do not overcook it: the lamb should stay tender and juicy.
• Let the meat rest for 10 minutes before carving, so the juices stay inside.
• The best potatoes are the ones cooking right next to the meat, soaking up its juices.
• A full-bodied Abruzzo red such as Montepulciano is the classic pairing.

Abruzzo has always been a land of shepherds and transhumance: lamb is the meat of celebrations, linked above all to Easter, when it is never missing from the table.

Every family has its own version: some add cherry tomatoes, some onions, some grated pecorino on the potatoes. But the basics never change: garlic, rosemary and a hot oven.