Eating Whole Foods: Grilled Leg of Lamb with Mint Pesto

My mom, bless her heart, is the furthest from being a foodie that one could be.  She used to cook and she used to cook well...but somewhere along the line this changed. I'm sure it has something to do with getting older and not having lots of people around to cook for.  But what bothers me most is that not only has she forgotten how to cook but she is not open to the idea of trying anything new.

She remembers how she cooked/ate things 30 years ago and that's the only way she can eat them now. Why am I telling you this. Well this past Easter, as in previous years, she went on a tyrant about having mint jelly to accompany the Easter lamb. And of course, as has happened in the past, it was my job to let her know we would NOT be having mint jelly.

I had bought this wonderful fresh leg of lamb from Whole Foods Market that we planned to butterfly and grill and there was no way we were going to allow her to top it with a processed mint jelly. Be real mom...you should know me better than that by now.

I honestly thought her head was going to explode when I told her "NO MINT JELLY"  In order to appease the masses, or at least my mom, I made a nice fresh mint pesto that went very well with the lamb. Yes, even mom agreed....though you'll notice it was left off her plate below...just in case.

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Grilled Butterflied Leg of Lamb with Mint Pesto
(recipe courtesy of Mario Batali)

8 pound leg of Lamb (deboned; excess fat trimmed and butterflied)
1/2 cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
3 Garlic cloves (peeled cut into slices)
2 sprigs fresh Rosemary
1 Lemon
Salt and Pepper

Season the lamb with salt and pepper and then rub the garlic and rosemary all over the meat.

Drizzle generously with olive oil and then place in a roasting pan to marinate.

Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice over the lamb. Add the lemon to the pan.

Marinate for a minimum of 2 hours or over night.

For the Mint Pesto:
2 cups fresh Mint leaves
1 cup Basil
1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano (freshly grated)
1/3 cup Pine Nuts (toasted)
2 Garlic cloves
1/3 cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Prepare the mint basil pesto. Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor, except the oil.

Begin to puree while slowly adding the oil. Adjust seasoning to taste.

****Arizona Whole Foods Market Community Support Day is April 24th,2013****
On this day, Whole Foods Market's seven stores in Arizona will donate five percent of all sales to the Arizona State Parks Foundation, helping support the group's work advocating, building relationships and fundraising to support and strengthen natural and historic parks throughout the state.

For more information about the Arizona State Parks Foundation, please visit http://arizonastateparksfoundation.org.

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