Jan 26, 2011

Seven-Hour Leg of Lamb

Slow-cooking a leg of lamb in wine with garlic and herbs transforms the meat into an ultra-tender entrée that goes marvelously with stewed white beans. This recipe is based on one given to us by the French food writer Camille Labro, who got it from her mother, a native of Provence. SAVEUR's executive food editor, Todd Coleman, toured Paris with Labro and observed her in the kitchen for his piece "Making Sunday Supper," from our October 2009 issue.

Credit: Landon Nordeman

FOR THE LAMB:
1  4-lb. shank end leg of lamb or
   a 4-lb. piece of shoulder, trimmed
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper,
   to taste
1  750-ml bottle dry white wine
20 cloves garlic, unpeeled
10 sprigs each fresh rosemary,
   thyme, and savory
5 fresh or dried bay leaves

FOR THE BEANS:
2 cups dried white beans, preferably cannellini
   or white coco, soaked overnight
5 cloves garlic, smashed
3 sprigs fresh thyme and parsley and a bay leaf
   tied together with kitchen twine
10 whole cloves
1 large onion, halved
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper,
   to taste
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. crème fraîche

1. Cook the lamb: Heat oven to 300˚. Rub lamb with oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Heat a 6-qt. Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add lamb and cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 12 minutes. Transfer lamb to a plate. Add wine and 2 cups water to the Dutch oven; scrape up browned bits from bottom of pot. Nestle garlic and herbs into a large oval casserole; place lamb on top of herbs; add pan juices from Dutch oven. Cover lamb with foil; transfer to oven and roast, basting frequently, for 3 1⁄2 hours. Uncover, flip lamb, and continue to cook, basting frequently, until lamb is very tender, 3–3 1⁄2 more hours. Transfer to a rack and let cool for 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, prepare the beans: About 1 1⁄2 hours before the lamb is done, drain beans and transfer to a 4-qt. saucepan along with 6 cups water, 4 cloves garlic, and the herb bundle. Insert the cloves into the onion and add to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until beans are tender, about 1 hour. Remove pot from heat and season with salt and pepper. Discard herbs and strain beans, reserving cooking liquid. Transfer 2 cups beans, 1⁄4 cup cooking liquid, oil, crème fraîche, and remaining garlic clove to a blender and purée. Stir puréed bean mixture and about 1 cup of the cooking liquid back into pot and cover to keep warm until lamb is cooked. Serve the lamb sliced or torn into chunks, alongside the beans.

SERVES 6 – 8

Pairing Note: This rich Provençal dish calls for a wine with ripe tannins from the south of France, like the Domaine Leon Barral Faugères 2004 ($33), from the Languedoc. —Ania Zawieja

This article was first published in Saveur in Issue #123

Subscribe now

Ratings & Reviews (11)

by dangremillion on 2009-10-16

this recipe is very old and historic. the lamb was cooked so long (7 heures) because long ago the lamb was tough. todays lamb is much more tender. i wonder if cooking the lamb 7 hrs is too long even at 300 degrees. what do i know. whaddaya think? dan

by taffymiller on 2009-11-05

This recipe is absolutely wonderful but the cooking time was more like 3.5 hours versus 7 hours. Since I had planned on an early dinner, I had to keep it warm for several hours so next time would plan on about 4 hours at 250 rather than 7 hours at 300 degrees. The beans that accompany this recipe were also a taste of heaven. I LOVE Saveur but was disappointed that you did not experiment with this recipe prior to printing it!!

by xtiane on 2009-12-14

I made this with the shoulder and it was really good! We didn't actually cook it for 7 hours, just 6, because my husband got hungry. I'm not sure if I would cook it the full 7 hours, after having such good experience with 6. Even though it took 6 hours, it was simple to make and uses ingredients that I had on hand. I would defintely consider making this for company or on special occasions because I feel confident that I could make it successfully again.

by frombatoparis on 2009-12-24

You are probably right. Maybe nowadays we don't need 7 hours, but in my opinion, a minimum 5 is a must. In France, this recipe is also called "gigot à la cuillère" and this is because after so much cooking, you don't need knife and fork to eat it....another very popular variation is the gigot with 40 cloves of garlic...don't worry; the garlic (and the lamb) is "confit" in a very sweet wine, that is called Montbazillac...a wine one MUST drink before dying !!!!

by laurak123 on 2010-03-25

Can I use a boneless leg of lamb for this recipe?

by Janita on 2010-08-12

Cooked the beans in the Dutch oven with the lamb. A very rich dish. Ideal for large gathering. No leftovers from this meal. None.

by clydiemor on 2011-01-26

It is true long cooking was used historically to tenderize tough meat, but it can still be done today 9outside of a slow cooker)
Nigella Lawson has a similar lamb recipe with pomegranate. It is slow cooked long hours over night in the oven. The meat is fork is shredded.

It is the best lamb I ever tasted..even beats out mint with lamb.

by harry merritt on 2011-02-01

This recipe is excellent: however, as I come from the south, I recommend cooking the lamb at 210 degrees. Remember, Water boils at 212 degrees and when baked at 210, all the juices remain in the lamb.We always smoke our
pork barbecue at 210 for 7 or more hours,which results in a "melt in your mouth delight.I baked your leg of lamb for 7 hours at 210 degrees and it was spectacular. Harry Merritt hmpelagic@maineline.net

by harry merritt on 2011-02-01

by TXGIRL on 2012-04-28

Made this for Easter and my whole family really loved the entire meal, (made the white beans also), served with oven roasted asparagus! I cooked the lamb for seven hours but lowered the temp. to 250. It was exactly the way it is described, spoon tender!! Excellent!!

by zbleck on 2013-01-25

Lovely dish--I did cook for seven hours as I threw some carrots and turnips into the pot for the last two hours.

Being the lazy cook that I am, I used an enameled casserole dish to both brown and cook the lamb.

I only added 2/3 of a bottle of wine as it looked like it would be more than plenty, but by the end it almost all was cooked away--so will add the full bottle in order to get more sauce.

Seven-Hour Leg of Lamb 4 5 4 11