Olive-Stuffed Lamb Roulade (A Holiday Showstopper!)

Are you searching for the ultimate holiday showstopper? A magnificent, jaw-dropping centerpiece for your Christmas dinner table that is the very definition of a celebratory feast? This incredible, from-scratch Olive-Stuffed Lamb Roulade with Salsa Verde is that perfect recipe. We’re talking an impossibly juicy and tender boneless leg of lamb, butterflied and rolled around a savory, briny olive and herb paste, slow-roasted to perfection, and served with a vibrant, fresh salsa verde.

This isn’t just another roast recipe; it’s your definitive guide to creating a truly unforgettable holiday feast. While a stuffed roulade may seem like the territory of a professional chef, we’ll break down the entire process into simple, manageable steps. This is a satisfying, soulful, and deeply impressive meal that is destined to become the star of your celebration.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Recipe Overview: The Ultimate “Slow & Low” Holiday Centerpiece

What makes this Lamb Roulade so spectacularly delicious is its incredible depth of flavor and its stunning, spiral presentation when sliced. This recipe is a masterpiece of classic, festive cooking with a Mediterranean flair. The star of the show is a beautiful boneless leg of lamb. The brilliant technique involves carefully slicing and unrolling the meat into a flat rectangle, a method known as “butterflying.” This creates the perfect canvas for a luxurious, from-scratch stuffing—a savory olive and herb paste made from briny Kalamata olives, fresh parsley, oregano, and lemon. The meat is then rolled up, slow-roasted until perfectly tender, and finished with a blast of high heat for a beautiful crust. The final, perfect counterpoint is a bright, zesty, and herbaceous homemade Salsa Verde.

Metric	Time / Level
Total Time	4 hours (plus 1 hour marinating)
Active Prep Time	45 minutes
Difficulty Level	Intermediate
Servings	8-10

The Butcher’s & The Garden’s Best: The Essential Ingredients

This iconic dish uses a handful of high-quality ingredients to create its signature rich and savory flavor.

• The Lamb (The Star of the Show!):
  • Boneless Leg of Lamb: This is a wonderfully flavorful and relatively lean cut that is perfect for roasting as a roulade. Its large, flat shape when butterflied makes it ideal for stuffing and rolling.
  • The Butcher is Your Best Friend!: The most intimidating part of this recipe is preparing the roast. You can make your life incredibly easy by ordering it from your butcher in advance and asking them to “trim and butterfly a 4-pound boneless leg of lamb for a roulade.”
• The Savory Olive Stuffing: The secret to the deep, complex, and Mediterranean flavor is this simple but powerful paste.
  • Kalamata Olives: Their intense, fruity, and briny flavor is the heart of the stuffing. Rinsing them helps to control the saltiness.
  • Fresh Herbs & Aromatics: A classic combination of fresh parsley and oregano, along with garlic, coriander, and lemon zest, provides a bright, fragrant counterpoint to the rich lamb and salty olives.
• The Vibrant Salsa Verde:
  • An Herb Explosion: This isn’t a cooked sauce, but a vibrant, fresh condiment. A huge amount of fresh parsley and oregano forms the base, blended with capers, garlic, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, and Dijon mustard for a zesty, pungent kick.

The Roasting Masterclass: The Secret to a Perfectly Juicy Roulade

This recipe uses a few simple but brilliant professional techniques that guarantee a flawless, impressive result.

1. The Butterfly Technique: The number one secret to a beautiful, stuffed roast is to “butterfly” or unroll it. This is the key that allows you to get that beautiful, pinwheel spiral of stuffing in every single slice.
2. The Slow Roast, Then High Sear (“Reverse Sear”): This is a brilliant, modern roasting technique! By cooking the lamb slowly in a very low oven ($275^{\circ}F$) first, you are ensuring a perfectly even, edge-to-edge pink interior. The final, blast of high heat ($500^{\circ}F$) at the end is the key that creates a beautiful, deeply browned, and crispy crust without overcooking the inside.
3. Trust Your Thermometer & Rest!: You must let your finished roast rest for at least 20 minutes before you slice into it. This crucial, patient step allows the hot, delicious juices to relax and redistribute throughout the entire roast.

Step-by-Step to the Perfect Lamb Roulade

This elegant, festive meal is a joy to prepare.

Part 1: The Aromatic Garlic Oil & Olive Paste

Step 1: In a small skillet, gently cook 4 minced garlic cloves and the ground coriander in 1/4 cup of olive oil until the garlic is softened. Remove from the heat and stir in 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes and the lemon zest. Let this cool completely.

Step 2: Rub your butterflied leg of lamb all over with this cooled garlic oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Let the lamb sit at room temperature for 1 hour.

Step 3: While the lamb marinates, make the olive paste. In a food processor, pulse your 3/4 cup of pitted Kalamata olives, 1/4 cup of parsley, 1 teaspoon of oregano, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil until a coarse paste forms.

Part 2: The Art of the Roulade

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 275°F ($135^{\circ}C$). Set a rack in a large roasting pan.Step 2: Place your marinated lamb fat-side down on a cutting board. Spread the prepared olive paste evenly over the top surface.Step 3 (The Fun Part!): Starting from one of the short sides, tightly roll the lamb up into a log. Use kitchen twine to tie the roast securely in 1-inch intervals. Season the outside of the roast generously with salt and pepper.

Part 3: The Slow Roast, High Sear, and Zesty Salsa Verde

Step 1: Place your tied roulade, seam-side down, on the rack in your roasting pan. Roast for 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 1/2 hours.Step 2: Start checking the internal temperature. You will know the lamb is a perfect medium-rare when your instant-read thermometer inserted into the very center registers $130^{\circ}F$ to $135^{\circ}F$.Step 3: Let the roast rest in the pan for 30 minutes. Then, increase your oven temperature to 500°F ($260^{\circ}C$).Step 4: While the lamb is resting, make your salsa verde. In the food processor, pulse the remaining 2 cups of parsley, 1 tablespoon of oregano, 1 minced garlic clove, 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, and the capers until coarsely chopped. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, the red wine vinegar, mustard, and salt. With the machine running, gradually drizzle in the remaining 1/2 cup of olive oil until a chunky sauce forms.Step 5: Return the rested lamb to the hot, 500°F oven and roast for about 20 more minutes, until the outside is beautifully browned and crispy.Step 6 (The Most Important Step!): Transfer the roast to a cutting board and let it rest for another 20 minutes before you remove the twine and slice it.

To serve, carve the roast into thin, beautiful, spiral-stuffed slices and serve with a generous spoonful of the vibrant salsa verde.

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Storage and Make-Ahead Tips

• Make-Ahead: This is the perfect make-ahead holiday meal! You can prepare the olive paste, make the salsa verde, and even fully stuff, roll, and tie the unbaked roast up to 24 hours in advance.
• Storage: Store any leftover roast, well-wrapped, in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. The salsa verde is best enjoyed fresh but will keep in the refrigerator for about 3 days.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)