Ask for the smallest lamb your butcher has (like those from New Zealand), or buy a 3½–4-lb. piece of a leg.
Recipe information
Yield
6 to 8 Servings
Ingredients
4
2
2
4
3
7
1
2
2
2
Need to make a substitution?
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°. Combine garlic, thyme, and 2 Tbsp. salt in a small bowl. Using your fingertips, rub mixture until it resembles wet sand (larger pieces of garlic will remain); set aside. Crush bay leaves.
Step 2
Combine half of potatoes with 1 Tbsp. oil and 1 crushed bay leaf in a large roasting pan; season with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Spread out potatoes in a single layer.
Step 3
Place lamb on top of potatoes and rub with garlic mixture. Layer tomatoes, onions, remaining 3 crushed bay leaves, and remaining potatoes around and up sides of lamb, seasoning with salt and pepper and drizzling with remaining 6 Tbsp. oil as you go (lamb will be nearly covered). Add wine to pan; cover tightly with foil.
Step 4
Roast until lamb is very tender, 3–4 hours. Remove foil and increase oven temperature to 425°. Roast, turning lamb halfway through, until lamb is golden, 20–25 minutes longer. Let rest in roasting pan for 15–20 minutes.
Step 5
DO AHEAD: Lamb can be roasted 2 days ahead. Cover and chill. Reheat before continuing.
Step 6
Pull meat from bones in large chunks; discard bones and fat. Place meat and vegetables on a platter. Skim fat from surface of cooking juices in pan. Spoon some cooking juices over lamb and vegetables and serve remainder alongside.