Leg of lamb or how to make it crispy enough to please our Italian friend

It is a Friday night and  we like to entertain at least once every weekend…it is fun having friends over and if you can make it easy enough..hey, why not.

One of our dearest friends loves lamb and he loves his meat crispy…so I had to make it.

I set the table in the morning.

Then I went to the butcher, but not after riding Henry and walking Natty.

I bought a boneless leg of lamb.

I made a crust and roasted it in the oven…it was yummy and our friend loved it.

I also made yellow beans with tomatoes and a rosemary apricot tart for dessert…what a simple and nice dinner it was.

Here are the recipes:

First I will give you the recipe for the tart, it will be done before you put the meat in the oven.

You need:

1 cup of regular flour

1 cup of almond flour

1 egg

1/3 cup of sugar

2/3 of a pound of butter

1 pound of apricots

5 tablespoons of apricot jam

1 tablespoon of rosemary, freshly chopped and 1 sprig of rosemary

Preheat the oven to 375

Mix the flour, butter, sugar and egg well and put in a 12 inch, well buttered tart shell, one with  removable bottom.

Arrange the apricots on top, place the rosemary sprig in the middle and in the oven the tart goes.

Should be ready after 40 minutes. Now heat the jam and spread over the tart,sprinkle the finely chopped rosemary over it, let cool and remove from shell and dessert is ready.

While the tart is in the oven, prepare the veggies.

You need :

2 pounds of yellow beans

4 tomatoes

1/2 onion, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onion and garlic in the oil and add the veggies. Add salt and pepper and let simmer for about 20 minutes on low. Finished.

And now for the meat:

You need:

1 leg of lamb, I got one without a bone, but hey, it really does not matter

1 cup of breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon of dijon mustard

1 tablespoon or more, depending on how spicy you can eat of Sambal Oelek

1/2 cup of finely chopped rosemary

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1/2 cup of apricot jam

Mix all ingredients and pack the top of the lamb with the mixture

Preheat the oven to 400 and in it goes.

Turn down to 385 after about 20 minutes..leave in the oven for about 1 hour depending on size of roast..we say about 20 minutes per pound.

So everything is ready and all you have to do is cut the meat, after letting it rest for about 10 minutes after it came out of the oven.

The meat was tender and still pink inside, the outside was crispy and what our friend wanted. Unfortunately it was gone before I could take a shot of the roast after it came out of the oven…it was gone in 60 seconds.

The whole dinner took me about 30 minutes to prepare…clean up in the evening or morning usually takes longer, mostly because I am hung over.

And remember , cooking is not as difficult as you think…it can be easy and fun…