Our guide to … butterflying a leg of lamb
There’s no doubt about it, lamb is a very popular protein. Incredibly versatile, lamb can be prepared in a range of ways, but one of our favourites is butterflied lamb. With the bone removed, you can quickly cook butterflied lamb on the barbecue or stuff it with delicious flavours before rolling and roasting it. Butterflying a leg of lamb is a good technique to learn; just follow the tips and steps in our guide to show you how.
1. Gather your equipment
You will need a large cutting board, paper towel, a sharp boning knife and a bowl or bin for scraps.
2. Pat dry
Take the lamb leg and lay it on the board with the fat-side facing down. Pat the leg all over with paper towel to dry it off and make it easier to handle.
3. Remove the bone
Feel around the end of the leg (the fattest end) for a triangular piece of bone. Use the knife to cut around this bone until it is almost free, then pull it to release it and cut it off and dispose of it.
Now work from the opposite end (narrow bone end) and cut along the meat on one side of the bone, freeing as much of the bone as possible.
Continue to the knee joint which is located about two-thirds from the narrow end and then change direction to cut along one side of the thigh bone.
Repeat these steps on the other side so that you have removed all the bone.
Check the meat for any pieces of bone or cartilage that remain and use the knife to remove these.
4. Butterfly
Use long sweeping strokes to cut into the meat on the thickest part, then open it out to create one flat piece of meat.
5. Cook
You can now cook your butterflied lamb either as is or stuffed and rolled. If stuffing, lay aromatics such as garlic and herbs on the lamb and roll and tie with kitchen twine before roasting. You can also marinate your butterflied lamb to impart additional flavour before barbecuing.
