Description
A boneless lamb shoulder roast dry brined with salt, garlic, rosemary and lemon zest, then spit-roasted until tender and basted with rosemary olive oil.
Ingredients
Scale
Lamb
- 3 to 4 pound boneless lamb shoulder roast
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
Rosemary olive oil baste
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 to 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, tied together to make a brush
Instructions
- Dry brine the lamb: 1 to 2 days before cooking, unwrap the lamb, remove any netting, rinse, and pat dry. Trim the exterior fat. Unroll the lamb so the inside faces up, sprinkle evenly with the salt, then sprinkle the inside with the garlic, minced rosemary and lemon zest. Cover and refrigerate. (No time? Do this just before cooking.)
- Truss and skewer: 2 hours before cooking, take the lamb out of the refrigerator. Roll it into an even tube and tie it with butcher's twine every 2 inches. Skewer it lengthwise on the rotisserie spit, and let it rest at room temperature.
- Prepare the grill: Set up your grill for rotisserie cooking at medium heat, with a drip pan in the middle. On my grill, I remove the grates, turn the two outer burners and the infrared rotisserie burner to medium, and preheat for 10 to 15 minutes. (See my rotisserie basic technique for more setup details.)
- Cook the lamb: Put the spit on the grill, start the motor, and cook with the lid closed. After 1 hour, turn off the infrared burner if you have one, and baste the lamb with the olive oil using the rosemary brush. Keep basting every 15 to 30 minutes until the thickest part of the roast reaches 180°F, 1 hour 15 minutes to 2 hours total. Start checking after 30 minutes, and keep the thermometer away from the spit.
- Rest and serve: Remove the lamb from the spit and cut off the twine. Baste once more, let rest for 15 minutes, then slice 1/2 inch thick and serve.
Notes
Equipment: A grill with a rotisserie (I use a Weber Summit 650 with an infrared rotisserie burner), a foil drip pan, and butcher's twine.
Shoulder cuts need to be cooked well done so the connective tissue melts. If you want medium-rare lamb, use a leg of lamb instead.
Truss the roast into an even shape. A thin end will overcook before the thickest part is done.
Lamb shoulder can be hard to find - ask your butcher to special order a boned and tied shoulder roast.
Serve with a Greek salad and tzatziki sauce. Use leftovers for gyros, with pita, tzatziki and thin-sliced red onion.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Dry brine: 1 day
- Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes