Step 1

Remove the net from the lamb roast and discard. With a sharp knife remove most of the visible fat and gristle but do not discard. Disconnect the two large sections of lamb from each other. One will be the top of the leg and the smaller piece will be the bottom of the leg. Butterfly each section so that when laid flat, each piece is fairly uniform in thickness.

Step 2

On a cutting board place rosemary, mint, garlic, salt, pepper and lemon zest. Using the side of a knife, drag the blade over the mixture several times until you have a paste. (This does not have to be perfect). Put this in a small bowl along with 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and all of the olive oil.

Step 3

Lay out the lamb and squeeze the remaining two teaspoons of lemon juice over both sides of both pieces. Next smear the paste over both sides of both pieces. Cover with plastic and let sit in the refrigerator for two hours.

Step 4

Take the fat scraps and gristle and place in a small sauce pan with a quart of water and bring to a boil. Simmer until there is about two cups of liquid left. Discard scraps and save broth. The fat will rise to the top and congeal and both the fat and stock will be used later. Set mixture aside under refrigeration.

Step 5

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Step 6

Remove lamb from the refrigerator. Cover a sheet pan with foil and place a rack in the foil lined pan.

Step 7

Heat a ribbed pan on stove top to smoking hot. Spoon one tablespoon of the lamb fat into hot pan. Sear each piece one at a time for two to three minutes on each side until nice and browned. Place on rack in prepared pan and place probe thermometer into thickest part of largest piece. Place a few tablespoons of lamb fat over each piece. Place pan in oven and set the temperature to alarm at 135 for rare and 145 for medium. (Best if cooked rare). The cooking time will be about one hour for rare.

Step 8

Remove from oven and let rest for 15 minutes. Leave probe in meat until ready to slice.

Step 9

On a cutting board, slice the meat against the grain on the bias and serve with Israeli couscous and pan-roasted tomatoes.

Step 10

Note: The couscous can be started when the meat comes out of the oven since it only takes a about 10 minutes to cook.

Step 11

In a medium sauce pan place dry couscous, lamb broth, lamb fat, salt and pepper. Cover and cook 8-10 minutes until tender. Remove from heat and stir in mint, rosemary, lemon juice and olive oil.