For me as a Christian, and a member of two church choirs, Easter Week is both a very sad/solemn and a very joyous time in my year.
It begins very sadly and solemnly on Thursday evening with a church service where we remember Jesus sitting with His disciples and breaking bread, for His Last Supper, then into Good Friday with a solemn and sad rememberance and re-enactment of his trial and crucifixion, Saturday we have a Vigil Ceremony and a time of rememberance, and then finally comes Easter Sunday and we rejoice in song and prayer and Holy Mass to celebrate His triumphant defeat of sin and death and His resurrection.
Usually at the end of this Mass, I am emotionally spent, because the music we perform must portray all of Man’s human emotions possible ranging from fear and anger to sadness and remorse to great joy and happiness.
So much about me though, the reason we are here at this hub is to roast a lamb. This is a most appropriate food to prepare though at this time for Jesus is the “Lamb of God” and His last Supper tells us that we are to eat of His Flesh.
Spit Grilled Whole Lamb For EasterThis is a labor of love that one does for their family. One large family.
I don’t know how big a group you plan to entertain on Easter. BUT, this recipe is simple and easy and will work with either a whole lamb, or a good sized roast or rack of lamb it’s up to you.
This is my way of relaxing and rejuvinating after singing at two masses for Easter.
From your Butcher purchase a whole lamb weighing about 15-20 pounds it is already beheaded and the inners removed and have him saw off the lower part of the legs. Then ask your butcher to truss or tie the upper part of the leg to the torso with a piece of wire or if you prefer and you have a large enough Barbcue pit, leave them untied.
If you are only cooking for two or three, a leg of lamb or a crown/rack of lamb will be plenty to serve.
Marinading your lamb:This is an old Greek Recipe I picked up over in Greece several years ago. It was shared with me by my girlfriend’s mom, and I have expanded upon her recipe to make it my own.
You will need a foil container big enough to hold your lamb and your marinade. If you are not preparing a whole lamb then cut the marinade ingredients in half.
Marinade Ingredients:
which will consist of 10-12 large cloves of garlic peeled and smashed to release their oils
2 or 3 medium sized onions peeled and quartered,
a bottle of inexpensive red wine or port
The juice of 2 lemons
2-3 table spoons of oregano (rubbed between your hands) to release the essence of this herb.
1 t-spoon of thyme
1 teaspoon of dried hot pepper seeds
combine all of these ingredients in your foil container and stir with a wisk to allow all the various essences to marry together, and then lay your lamb into the mixture. Marinade for between 12 and 24 hours turning from one side to the other to give great flavor to the whole piece of lamb. The longer you leave it the more flavor is absorbed by the meat and the more tender the meat will become.
Spit Grilling Your Lamb:
First things first fire up your barbcue. If you are using a gas barbcue you need to get your temperature up to about 350 – 400 degrees F: If you are using charcoal you will have to make sure that your coals are constantly hot which will mean adding more coals as time goes by.
In a 6 inch diameter bowl combine about 1/2 pound of melted salted butter, 2 table- spoons of olive oil, some lemon juice and oregano. You will brush this onto the lamb as it is roasting every hour or so, to keep the meat moist and help build the flavor.
While your BBQ is heating up lets get that lamb ready for the fire. Remove it from your marinade and rub it inside and out with some regular olive oil. Then make some deep knife slits into the lamb about 4 per side, and push in small pads of (salted) butter into each and then retrieve pieces of your smashed garlic and stuff them too into those slits on both sides.
Sprinkle salt and pepper all over the lamb and then press and rub some oregano and rosemary all over the lamb. It’s ready. Do not throw away all the marinade. It can also be used for basting at the end.
Mount your lamb on your barbcue rotisserie spit making sure it is evenly balanced and hook it up to your barbcue. The lamb should be constantly rotating over your barbcue flames in order to prevent burning, and allow for even cooking.
Do not forget to brush the lamb with that melted butter mixture you prepared, and in the last hour of cooking if you haven’t thrown out the marinade mixture, you can brush a little of it on your lamb.
Cooking time is 35 – 40 minutes per pound of lamb and the meat should appear just slightly (Pinkish) to check for doneness the meat from the leg should be almost falling off the bone.