Borrego assado is Portuguese roast lamb: a leg or shoulder marinated with garlic, white wine, bay leaf and red pepper paste, then roasted slowly with potatoes that cook in the pan juices. Roast lamb and kid are festive centerpieces in many regions of Portugal, most closely associated with Easter and also served at other holiday tables.
The marinade follows a familiar Portuguese pattern: garlic, white wine, paprika or red pepper paste (see the massa de pimentão recipe on the site), olive oil and bay. The long, moderate roast keeps the meat moist and lets the potatoes absorb the drippings, much like the potatoes in the Alentejo lamb stew (recipe on the site).
The dish needs a day of marinating but little attention while it cooks, which makes it a practical holiday main course for a table of six to eight.
Borrego Assado Recipe
Ingredients
- For the lamb and marinade:
- 1 bone-in leg of lamb (about 4 to 5 pounds)
- 6 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste with 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons Portuguese red pepper paste (massa de pimentão) or 1 tablespoon sweet paprika mixed with 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3/4 cup dry white wine
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- For the potatoes:
- 2 1/2 pounds waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into thick wedges
- 1 large onion, cut into thick wedges
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup water or lamb stock
- Salt and black pepper
- Chopped fresh parsley, for serving
Instructions
- Pat the lamb dry. Cut shallow slits all over the surface with a small knife.
- Mix the garlic paste, red pepper paste, white wine, olive oil, bay leaves and pepper. Rub the mixture over the lamb and into the slits. Cover and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours, turning once.
- Remove the lamb from the refrigerator 1 hour before roasting. Heat the oven to 350°F.
- Toss the potatoes and onion with the olive oil, salt and pepper in a large roasting pan. Pour in the water or stock.
- Set the lamb on top of the potatoes, pour over the marinade and cover the pan tightly with foil.
- Roast for 1 hour 30 minutes. Remove the foil, baste with the pan juices, and raise the oven to 425°F.
- Roast uncovered for 40 to 50 minutes, basting once or twice, until the lamb is deeply browned and the potatoes are tender. A thermometer in the thickest part should read 145°F for medium or 160°F for well done and fall-apart tender.
- Rest the lamb on a board, loosely covered, for 15 minutes. Carve, spoon the pan juices over the potatoes and sprinkle with parsley.
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