Easter Lamb with Salsa Verde

This recipe is a riff on my Zio Alfredo's famous lamb recipe. The salsa verde is a little different, and he grills a bone in lamb. Cooking meat on the bone always tastes better, so I recommend trying that too! For the salsa, mine is an attempt to make it less salty.

Serves 10 people

Lamb

1 4.5-5lb butterflied deboned leg of lamb, or 6lb bone in. You can also use a shoulder.

Salsa Verde

½ c chopped Italian parsley

1/4 c chopped chives

½ c chopped mint

2 t grated lemon peel

1 c extra virgin olive oil

1 t crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 t coarse salt

1/4 t ground pepper

1 T minced garlic

Mix all ingredients together for salsa verde, put into a bowl, and set aside.

Coat lamb generously with additional salt and pepper and rub half of the salsa mixture all over the lamb. Put into a baking dish and cover. Let marinate in the refrigerator overnight, and store the rest of the salsa in the fridge as well.

When ready to cook the lamb, bring the salsa out to get to room temperature. Roast the lamb in the oven at 350 degrees until internal temp reaches 135 degrees for medium rare doneness. About 45-60 minutes. Once it comes to temp remove and let rest, covered, for 20 minutes. Slice across the grain and serve with the rest of the salsa verde.

Alt cooking method: you can also grill the lamb on medium high heat of 350.