Roast Lamb... Don't say I've never given you any recipes

Roast Lamb with a red wine and roasted red pepper eggplant sauce
Serves 8-10 (small portions)


This recipe is fairly intense, and needs prep in stages, over two to three days. I will begin with the recipe for the baba-ganousch-like sauce, move on to the min. 24-hour marinade for the lamb, and finish with the final stages of prep. Each section will have its’ own ingredients listing and directions.


Step I: Roasted red pepper “baba ganousch”

Ingredients:
• 1 large eggplant
• 1 small red sweet pepper
• 2 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced very finely
• ¼ c. extra virgin olive oil
• “Splash” lemon juice (1 tsp?)
• Salt, pepper and paprika to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F. Poke holes all over eggplant’s skin with fork… If you don’t do this, it might explode in the oven. Place on baking sheet with the red pepper, whole. You may wish to cover your baking sheet in foil, as it’ll make cleanup easier. Roast for 45 min. to an hour, at which point the pepper’s skin should be mostly blackened, and the eggplant should be browned and collapsing slightly. Remove from oven, and let cool for 10-15 min. Remove stem, and peel eggplant, keeping as much flesh as possible intact. Throw into food processor with garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and paprika. Remove stem from roasted pepper. You may peel off skin if you find it unappetizing, but I find that the dip is better with the blackened skin. Throw it in, too. Process, stirring occasionally, until you have a fine, creamy-textured glop. Store, covered, in refrigerator for at least 24 hours. This dip is better if it sits for one or two days before use.


Step II: Red-wine marinade for lamb

Ingredients:
• 2-2½ lb. lamb roast, boned, tied (either leg or shoulder will do fine)
• 1-1½ c. bold red wine (Grenache, Cotes-du-Rhone, Bordeaux)
• 2-3 oz. extra virgin olive oil
• 2 large cloves garlic
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Remove the lamb from packaging, pat dry. Salt and pepper the roast to taste, and tie if not already strung up. Put in strong freezer bag with wine and garlic, chopped into thick slices. Refrigerate, turning every 6-12 hours, for 24 to 48 hours. (Alt. method: pound lamb out flat with and thin with meat hammer before marinating. Do not tie up. Marinade as described above.)


Step III: To cook or not to cook?

Ingredients:
• Marinated Lamb, described above
• Roasted red pepper “baba ganousch”
• 1 lg. sweet onion, sliced thin
• ¼ c. pine nuts
• ¼ c. crumbled feta cheese
• 1-1½ c. red wine, same as that used for marinade (Grenache, Cotes-du-Rhone, Bordeaux)
• Approx. 1 “portion” plain couscous per four diners, prepared as listed on package

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F, pat roast dry with paper towel, and pan-sear in a hot pan, preferably iron, steel or copper (not non-stick, though enameled iron is fine,) on all sides. Remove from heat, and rub with a small amount of the baba ganousch. Place in a large, tight-lidded casserole, and cover with sliced onion and pine nuts. Place in oven for about 25-30 min/lb, checking meat’s internal temperature after about 30-40 minutes, and every 10 or so thereafter. Cook to an internal temperature of 150-155F for medium-rare meat and maximum flavor sans-gaminess. Once meat is done, remove from oven and casserole, and let sit for about 15 minutes to give juices a chance to redistribute on cutting board. Reserve cooked Add wine to roasting casserole, and deglaze pan at no higher than med-high heat, scraping all meat drippings from bottom with rubber spatula. Transfer remaining baba ganousch into saucepan, and slowly incorporate deglazing wine into it, stirring constantly, over medium heat. Reduce for about fifteen minutes until good sauce consistency. Slice lamb thin, and arrange a few slices on each guest’s plate on a bed of couscous. Sprinkle with reserved feta, ladle red wine pan sauce over top, and put a small stack of reserved onions and pine nuts on top of the whole mess. Serve immediately. (Alt. method: If you chose to pound out the roast and do a roulade, congrats! Get ready for some work. Pat dry, spread a thin layer of baba ganousch over the internal surface of the roulade, sprinkle with feta and pine nuts, roll, and tie. Skip pan searing, and place directly into casserole, following directions above for rest of recipe. Watch temperature very carefully! Also, you needn’t necessarily deglaze the roasting pan, as it should be full of liquids to start. Just pour the wine directly into the dip, and reduce. One may add a few spoonfuls of jus from the roasting pot to the sauce if one wishes, however.)