Easter Lamb

An arch classic dish from the french gastro repertoire is the "Gigot d'Agneau Flageolets" or leg of lamb with flageolet beans. There is no escape. When you do lamb, you have to serve it with flageolets. A bit like like fish & lemon, or pastas & Parmiggiano Regiano. Unfortunately for the french living in Finland, this kind of beans is not sold in the country. The only way is to buy online (Amazon). Pity really because the locals have no idea how good these beans are, full of flavors (a cross between white beans and peas), soft and delicates, and an absolute match made in heaven with the lamb. 

This is a 1.5kg leg of organic young lamb from Ahvenanmaa, which is probably the best you can find in Helsinki. Small incisions have been made all around the leg and been stuffed with with freshly made garlic puree. Then the leg has been rubbed with the rest of the puree mixed with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and sea salt.

Now, there are some rules when you cook lamb. The golden rule is, when you do use quality meat like this one, that it should be cooked pink. Otherwise it would be a total waste. To start with, the meat should be at room temperature and not cold. It's a good idea to have it out of the fridge at the very least 2 hours in advance. Usually, the cooking time is 15min. at 220° per 500gr. and the meat temperature should be between 50°-55° (the use of an electronic oven thermometer is essential in this case). So for this leg, knowing that the ratio meat/ bone is roughly 2/3-1/3, we did cook it for almost 40min. the meat being at 53° when out of the oven.

The leg has been resting with a sheet of aluminium on top for 10min. The meat is now moist, juicy and tender, ready to be carved.

There you go: Gigot d'Agneau Flageolets.

Traditionally, a roasted leg of lamb is served with a Bordeaux, like a Pauillac, or a Côte Rôtie (Rhone). At first, we were leaning toward the 2nd, when we did spot this lonely bottle in Alko Stockmann: "Bruno Rocca Barbaresco 2018". This light fruity italian red was described as specifically for the lamb, and indeed was a great match. Superb.