Lamb in chermoula … Italian version

Over a year ago I discovered chermoula when I prepared a Moroccan supper for friends. That was the best lamb I had ever made and I swore I’d always make it that way. But when Easter came this year I wanted the meal to be more Italian rather than Moroccan, so I undertook to make the chermoula taste like Italy. There’s something about holidays that makes me want to be traditional. Is it traditional to eat lamb in Italy? Decidedly, yes, it is. There are lots of recipes, mostly very cooked, some even simmered rather than roasted, and I am willing to try out all of them. For Easter I wanted a pair of roasted legs, however and I wanted them succulent, a bit rare and subtly perfumed with the herbs and spices of Italy. Here’s what I came up with.

Italian Chermoula
This is a single recipe and will marinate 1 kilo or 2.2 pounds of meat.

2 medium onions grated or very finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed or minced
4 tablespoons flat leaf Italian parsley, minced
4 tablespoons oregano minced or 2 tablespoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon cumin, crushed
1/2 teaspoon saffron, soaked in a spoonful of warm water
1/2 teaspoon crushed red chili pepper
1/2 cup (125 ml) olive oil
juice of half a lemon

Mix those all together. I used the food processor to smush up all of it. In a glass or ceramic dish or a large Ziplock bag, put the lamb and then the marinade. Use your hands to distribute the paste all over the meat. Seal and marinate the meat for at least a day and two days is even better.

Take the meat out an hour before you plan to cook it and let it come to room temperature. Remove most of the marinade with your hands. Put the meat in a shallow dish and roast to the doneness you like or barbecue it if that’s possible. You may simmer the marinade in a little pan and serve it as a sauce with the meat at table. Nothing I can say to you will help you with how long it will take to cook this meat. Our legs of lamb are so tiny you could mistake them for a turkey thigh. Yours will be much bigger unless you too live in Italy.

I really liked this, but I like the North African version even better. On the other hand, all od these ingredients are readily available and the ingredients for traditional chermoula are not.