Steam-Roasted Lambchetta

The spices and seasonings in a traditional Italian porchetta translate very well to a roast boneless leg of lamb, making it an excellent centerpiece roast for any spring celebration, especially with those who choose not to eat pork. In fact, you can even dial up the volume of spices in this lamb”chetta” as the flavorful meat can certainly withstand heavy amounts of garlic, fennel, rosemary, sage, and thyme. The recipe below is written to use one 3-pound boneless leg of lamb, but you can scale it up or down with smaller or larger roasts. It also works well with lamb shoulder roasts, although you will need to be a bit more creative with the assembly of the roast. You will also notice that the recipe calls for a 4-hour hold at the target temperature of 135°F (57°C); this step ensures that the connective tissue has time to cook to tenderness. Don’t skip it! You can, however, adjust the final doneness of the lamb as you’d like. As written, the lamb will be cooked medium. You can increase the doneness to medium-well by increasing both the oven temperature and probe temperature to 140°F (60°C). For the best texture, I don’t recommend cooking the lamb any less than medium.