Roast Lamb with Fresh Shell Beans and Garlic

🛒Ingredients (Grocery List)

  • 15 Garlic cloves, 1 peeled, 14 unpeeled

  • 1 tbsp Olive Oil

  • 4-to-5-pound Leg of Lamb, bone in, excess fat trimmed if desired

  • Sea Salt

  • Freshly ground Black Pepper

  • Fresh Rosemary or Sage Sprigs for Garnish

  • 2 cups dried White Beans, rinsed

  • 2 fresh Savory or Oregano branches

  • 1 fresh or dried imported Bay Leaf

  • 2 tbsp Olive or Walnut Oil

🍴Serves: 6

⏰Prep Time: 30 min

⏱️Cook Time: 60 min


🥣Instructions

1. Place the Beans in a heavy saucepan, cover with Water, and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and let sit for 1 hour.

2. Drain the Beans and return them to the pot. Add the Herbs, then cover the Beans with about 2 inches of Water. Bring the Water to a boil over medium-high heat, lower the Heat to low, and cook the Beans until they are just tender, about 40 minutes, depending on the freshness of the Beans. Test them regularly after 30 minutes of cooking time. You want the Beans tender, not at all mushy.

3. Spoon out 1/4 cup of the cooking water from the Beans and reserve. Drain the Beans, discard the Herbs, and place the Beans in a warmed bowl. Pour the Oil over the Beans, toss, and season with Salt and Pepper to taste. If the Beans are a bit dry, add some of the reserved cooking water and toss.

4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Mince the peeled Garlic clove.

5. Rub the Leg of Lamb all over with the Oil, then rub in the minced Garlic. Season with Salt and Pepper.

6. Place the Leg of Lamb, fattiest side up, on a rack in a roasting pan. Place the pan in the lower third of the oven. Roast the Lamb for 30 minutes, then turn it so the fattiest side is down. Add the remaining 14 Garlic cloves to the pan, stir so they are coated with fat, and continue to roast the Lamb until its internal temperature is 125 degrees for rare Lamb, an additional 15 minutes, for a total of 45 minutes. Remove the Lamb from the pan and set it on a cutting board that collects juices. Return the pan to the oven so the Garlic cloves can continue to cook until they are tender, an additional 15 minutes (for a total of 30 minutes). If you prefer your Lamb medium, cook it for 50 to 55 minutes for an internal temperature of 137 degrees.

7. When the Garlic cloves are cooked, remove the pan from the oven and stir in the white Beans.

8. To serve, slice the Lamb and transfer it to a warmed serving platter. Spoon the Beans and Garlic over it, and garnish with the Rosemary Sprigs.