Gigot d'Agneau

Make Ahead and Storage

Refrigerated for 3 days. Cold lamb is excellent; reheating it is not. The bone makes stock.

Making Gigot d'Agneau

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1. Heat the oven to 220°C / 425°F. Make 30 or so deep slits all over the lamb with a small sharp knife.

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2. Push a sliver of garlic and a scrap of anchovy deep into each slit, so nothing is left on the surface.

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3. Rub the lamb with the oil, salt and pepper.

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4. Toss the potatoes and onions with the sliced garlic, oil, salt and thyme and spread them in a large tray. Pour the stock over.

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5. Sit a rack over the potatoes and lay the lamb on it, with the rosemary tucked underneath, so the juices drip down.

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6. Roast 20 minutes at 220°C / 430°F, then lower to 180°C / 350°F and roast 70 minutes for pink — 55°C / 130°F at the thickest point.

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7. Rest the lamb 25 minutes on a warm plate while the potatoes go back into the oven to crisp. Carve and serve together.

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Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.

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Worth Knowing

• Push the garlic and anchovy right in. On the surface they burn.
• A rack over the potatoes so they catch everything.
• Twenty-five minutes of rest, minimum.

Why the Method Is What It Is

The anchovy dissolves completely during roasting and what it leaves is not fishiness but depth — it is doing the job salt does, with glutamates on top. Slit the meat and push a sliver of garlic and a scrap of anchovy right into each cut rather than laying them on the surface, where they simply burn. The potatoes underneath are half the reason to make it, so use a tray that fits them in one dense layer.

Serving Ideas

Green beans · A glass of Bordeaux · Redcurrant jelly

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Bretzel Alsacien, Brioche Buns, Carottes Vichy.

Swaps and Variations

• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.

Questions About Gigot d'Agneau

The Numbers per Serving

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.

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