Why you should rest your lamb roast for 20 minutes before carving (plus other pro tips)

To understand how best to cook and serve lamb this Easter and beyond, we learn from two chefs with more insight than most.

Ozge Kalvo leads the kitchen at Olympus Dining in Sydney, where they lean hard into lamb. “We’re getting 20 lambs weekly from a family farm in Victoria, and using all the cuts,” she says. “A wine cool room has been turned into a lamb room, we’ve employed a full-time butcher, and we’re dry-ageing for two weeks.”

An entire section of the menu is devoted to lamb – cutlets, chops, sausages, leg – while lamb brain and sweetbreads make an appearance, too.

Jenna Abbruzzese is a chef-turned-lamb farmer in central Victoria. “Cooking lamb isn’t complex,” she says, “It’s about who you’re serving and what the occasion is: you can make it really special, or it can be your own quick dinner.”

“Lamb is a comforting family meal, easy to cook, and more affordable than steak,” says Kalvo. It works well if you’re trying to eat less but better meat. “The portions are better for individuals,” she says.

Serving a variety of cuts encourages a nose-to-tail mindset, treating the animal with more respect and your guests to more flavour. “You don’t have to feed everyone cutlets,” says Kalvo. “I prefer a platter that celebrates the whole animal.”

Love your butcher

Abbruzzese sells her Addington Downs lamb boxes directly to subscribers, but for those outside her circle, she recommends finding a trusted local butcher. “Be a bit more intentional,” she says. “We already do it with wine, coffee, and beef –why not lamb?”

In Turkey, Kalvo recalls that meat was never a supermarket commodity; it was a conversation with the family butcher. Shopping this way transforms the ingredient from a plastic-wrapped mystery into a custom-cut asset.

A good butcher will debone a lamb leg or prep your skewers on the spot – but the real win is the mince. “Ask them to mince it fresh with some fatty belly,” Kalvo suggests. She sticks to a 20 per cent fat ratio to ensure her meatballs and kofte stay rich and succulent.

How to measure done-ness

“Why guess when you can measure?” asks meat-probe-lover Jenna Abbruzzese. “I can guarantee using a thermometer will make cooking roasts so much more enjoyable.”

When it comes to smaller cuts, Kalvo leans toward a medium-well finish. “Less than medium, it’s too chewy for me and I don’t really experience the taste of the lamb.”

Seasoning

Abbruzzese cooks lamb with salt only. “It’s so I can eat it over a few days. Keeping it simple makes it versatile, but there’s also a cave-person satisfaction in simplicity.”

At Olympus, Kalvo goes Greek with fennel seeds, lemon, olive oil, orange zest, onion, yoghurt and herbs, which are all good friends with lamb.

The cuts

LEG

The hero cut of the beast is the top portion of each rear leg. Butterflied lamb leg (deboned and butchered so it flattens out) is terrific on the barbecue. Kalvo also suggests removing lamb sausage meat from its casing and rolling it up in a butterflied lamb leg before tying and roasting.

• Try Adam Liaw’s butterflied lamb leg with tomato and mint recipe, pictured below.

To roast, Abbruzzese recommends removing the leg from the fridge two hours before cooking. This will help it cook more evenly.

Rub the leg with salt, olive oil (and pepper, if you like), roast for 20 minutes at 220C fan-forced, then reduce to 180C conventional. “I like more gentle heat, not blasting the outside of the meat,” she says.

Spoon over fat and juices every 25 minutes or so. For pink-ish legs, remove from the oven when the centre reaches about 55C. It will continue to cook out of the oven, reaching about 60C to 68C, which is medium-rare to medium.

“I like a long resting period, about 20 or 30 minutes, where you cover the meat with foil and allow it to relax and reabsorb all that moisture,” she says. Slightly cooler meat makes for easier carving, too.

SHOULDER

A hard-working cut that loves a slow cook, Kalvo brines, marinades and sears bone-in shoulders, before placing them in a tray with chicken stock, herbs and spices. She covers the pan, then cooks it for eight hours at 120C. The meat will be fork-tender.

SHANK

Braise shanks in red wine with mushrooms and peppercorns and you’re on the way to a gastropub winner. “Serve slow-cooked shank with mash and peas, and it will keep everyone happy,” says Abbruzzese.

Kalvo suggests picking shank (or neck) meat from the bone and serving it with orzo pasta. “You can use the cooking jus to cook your pasta, and serve it with salted ricotta on top.”

NECK

The neck makes the perfect cut for soup or ragu, or Neil Perry’s succulent lamb necks with onions and garlic (pictured above). “You can use it to make harira, a Greek soup, Italian ragu, curry: it’s so delicious and succulent,” says Abbruzzese.

CUTLETS

When the rack is separated, the portions become cutlets. “All my friends feed their babies cutlets as their first solid food,” says Abbruzzese. “But it doesn’t matter how old you are. Who is going to decline a cutlet, cooked in a hot pan with good oil or lamb fat and a bit of salt?”

CHOPS

Like cutlets, chops need a quick, high heat to get a good crust, leaving the meat close to the bone quite rare. “You need a good salad with those cuts, maybe Greek, something refreshing acid and vinegary,” says Abbruzzese.

LOIN

“I love to slice into medallions and do a little marinade – sumac and allspice, maybe – and make luxe little skewers,” says Abbruzzese. “They are great with charcoal flavour on every side.”

RACK

“Give it colour in the pan, then roast it in a hot oven and it’s beautiful to present,” says Abbruzzese.

RUMP

The rump is a versatile cut that benefits from a quick roast and a rare finish. As Kalvo explains: “Because it’s taken from between the cutlets and the leg, it’s a generous, manageable portion for two.”

RIBS

Kalvo recommends a low-and-slow approach: “Keep the ribs in one piece, season with olive oil and salt, and place them in a slow cooker or a low oven overnight with a little water in the tray to steam,” she says. Once cooked, allow the ribs to cool completely before slicing into single portions. To serve, give them a quick fry until crisp. “They make a delicious, simple snack when served with yoghurt and lemon.”

Because ribs can be quite fatty, Abbruzzese uses a clever acidity trick: she marinates them in salt and onion juice (simply blitz an onion and strain). The ribs are then wrapped tightly in greaseproof paper and foil for a gentle bake. Once the meat begins to soften, open the parcel to let the ribs colour, then finish with a generous brush of toum (garlic sauce) for a hit of sharp, creamy heat.

OFFAL

Abbruzzese is partial to thinly sliced liver and heart, marinated in onion juice and skewered over charcoal. “And brains: you can’t go wrong with crumbed nuggets with sauce gribiche.”

BONES

Bones are liquid gold for soups and stews. If you aren’t making stock right away, they’ll keep perfectly in the freezer until needed.