Wood-fired roast lamb
The star dish of Atienza mountain cuisine: milk-fed lamb roasted whole, with lard, garlic and white wine. Traditional recipe for the home oven.
- Prep time
- 15 min
- Cook time
- 110 min
- Yield
- 6 servings
- Difficulty
- Easy
What you need
- 1 shoulder and/or leg of milk-fed lamb (about 2 kg)
- 4 crushed garlic cloves
- 100 g lard (or olive oil)
- 1 glass dry white wine
- 1 glass water
- Coarse salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- Fresh thyme and rosemary
Step by step
- 01
Preheat the oven to 180 °C (top and bottom heat).
- 02
Season the lamb generously and rub with the lard mixed with crushed garlic. If using oil, drizzle on top.
- 03
Place the lamb in a clay or roasting dish with bay, thyme and rosemary. Pour the water and half the wine in the bottom.
- 04
Roast 30 minutes at 180 °C.
- 05
Lower to 160 °C and roast another 50 minutes, basting every 15-20 minutes with the pan juices. If drying, add a splash more water.
- 06
Raise to 200 °C for the last 15 minutes to brown the skin. Add the rest of the white wine.
- 07
Check the doneness with a fork: the meat should fall easily off the bone.
- 08
Take out and rest 10 minutes before carving. Serve with the pan sauce and, if you like, lettuce, tomato and onion salad.
- Ask your butcher for sierra milk-fed lamb (carcass max 6-7 kg): it is the traditional Atienza cut.
- Traditional clay retains heat better than metal. If you do not have one, use a thick roasting dish.
- The final rest is key: without it, the juices escape when carving.
Other traditional recipes
- MeatsGallina en pepitoriaPepitoria is one of the oldest Castilian stews and an emblematic dish of Atienza cuisine: chicken, almonds, saffron, hard-boiled egg and white wine.
- SweetsTraditional Easter torrijasThe undisputed sweet of Atienza Easter: bread slices soaked in milk infused with cinnamon and lemon, coated in egg and fried in hot oil.
- SweetsGrandma's rosquillasLifelong oil and anise rosquillas: the most homemade sweet of the Atienza recipe book.
Taste it in Atienza
The village restaurants serve the traditional recipe book all year round.