Chef Isabel
Baifo Asado Canario
Baifo Asado Canario is kid goat barrado, rubbed with garlic, pimentón, vinegar, cumin, and oregano, then roasted gently before a sharp red mojo browns the edges and wakes the pan juices.
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Xot Rostit Mallorquí
Created by
Xot rostit is Mallorca's Easter lamb: garlic and sobrassada tucked into the meat, potatoes underneath, and white wine in the tray so the roast bastes itself slowly.
Main Dishes
Spanish
Easter
Special Occasion
Celebration
25 min
Active Time
2 hr 30 min cook•3 hr 25 min total
Yield6 servings
Xot rostit is Mallorcan: young lamb roasted for Easter, cut with small pockets of garlic and sobrassada, then set over potatoes with wine or brandy in the tray. That sobrassada is what keeps it from being just another roast lamb. It melts into the meat, stains the juices a quiet pimentón red, and gives the potatoes the rich, soft edges people pick at before the platter reaches the table.
The method that decides it is simple. Put the sobrassada inside the lamb, not smeared thickly on top. On the surface it burns before the meat is tender; tucked into small cuts with garlic, it melts slowly and seasons from within. Start hot to wake the fat, then lower the oven and baste. The roast should go glossy and deep, never dry.
No hace falta haber pisado Mallorca. You don't need to have set foot on the island. If you can't find xot, buy a small bone-in lamb shoulder from a good butcher, not old mutton. If you can't find sobrassada de Mallorca, use Menorcan sobrasada first, or a soft Spanish cooking chorizo skinned and mashed with a spoon of olive oil; it will taste more garlicky and less melting, but it keeps the pimentón-fat logic of the dish.
I write this one with shoulder because it forgives a home oven and gives you tender meat without fuss. The note in my Margin says: sobrassada dins, no damunt, inside, not on top. Follow that and the basting, and siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Xot is the Mallorcan Catalan word for young lamb, and xot rostit belongs especially to the island's Easter table, when spring lamb was the celebration meat after the lean weeks of Lent. Sobrassada de Mallorca, the island's soft cured pork sausage colored with pimentón, came from the matanza and the need to preserve pork in a humid sea climate; tucked into lamb, it marks the roast as Mallorcan rather than a mainland asado. The potatoes that roast underneath take the fat and wine from the tray, so the accompaniment is part of the dish, not something served beside it.
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Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
bone-in young lamb shoulder
Quantity
2.0 to 2.3kg
or a small bone-in leg
fine sea salt
Quantity
16g
divided
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
2g
sobrassada de Mallorca
Quantity
140g
chilled until firm enough to pinch
garlic cloves
Quantity
8
5 cut into slivers and 3 crushed
waxy potatoes
Quantity
1.3kg
peeled and cut into 3cm chunks
onions
Quantity
300g
sliced 1cm thick
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
60ml
bay leaves
Quantity
2
dried moraduix (marjoram), or rosemary
Quantity
1 teaspoon dried marjoram, or 2 small rosemary sprigs
dry white wine
Quantity
125ml
brandy (optional)
Quantity
50ml
or 50ml more white wine
water
Quantity
100ml
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| bone-in young lamb shoulderor a small bone-in leg | 2.0 to 2.3kg |
| fine sea saltdivided | 16g |
| freshly ground black pepper | 2g |
| sobrassada de Mallorcachilled until firm enough to pinch | 140g |
| garlic cloves5 cut into slivers and 3 crushed | 8 |
| waxy potatoespeeled and cut into 3cm chunks | 1.3kg |
| onionssliced 1cm thick | 300g |
| extra virgin olive oil | 60ml |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| dried moraduix (marjoram), or rosemary | 1 teaspoon dried marjoram, or 2 small rosemary sprigs |
| dry white wine | 125ml |
| brandy (optional)or 50ml more white wine | 50ml |
| water | 100ml |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy roasting tray, about 30 x 40cm
- •Small sharp knife
- •Basting spoon
- •Instant-read thermometer, useful but not required
Instructions
- 1
Lard the lamb
Pat the lamb dry. Make 14 to 16 small cuts all over the thick parts of the meat, each about 2cm deep. Push a sliver of garlic and a small pinch of sobrassada into each cut, pressing it in with your finger so it sits inside the meat. Rub the outside with 10g of the salt, the pepper, the crushed garlic, and 30ml of the olive oil. Pésalo, no lo adivines: the sobrassada is salty, so the measured salt keeps the roast seasoned without turning harsh.
If the sobrassada is too soft to handle, chill it for 15 minutes. You want little plugs you can tuck into the lamb, not a paste sliding across the surface. - 2
Set the potatoes
Heat the oven to 220C. Toss the potatoes and onions in a heavy roasting tray with the remaining 30ml olive oil, the remaining 6g salt, the bay leaves, and the moraduix or rosemary. Spread them in an even layer and set the lamb on top, fat side up. Pour the water into the edge of the tray, not over the lamb, so the potatoes start cooking without washing the seasoning away.
- 3
Start it hot
Roast for 20 minutes at 220C, until the lamb has browned in patches and the potatoes at the edges begin to take color. This first heat wakes the fat and gives the tray a good base, but don't leave it there longer. Sobrassada is rich with pimentón, and pimentón goes bitter if you bully it.
- 4
Roast and baste
Lower the oven to 170C. Pour the white wine and brandy around the sides of the tray and roast for 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours more, basting the lamb every 25 to 30 minutes with the glossy tray juices and turning the potatoes once. If the tray threatens to dry out, add a small splash of water. The lamb is ready when a knife slides into the thickest part near the bone with little resistance; for shoulder, an internal temperature around 85C gives the soft, yielding roast you want.
If you use a small leg instead of shoulder, begin checking after 1 hour 45 minutes total roasting time. A leg carves more neatly but forgives less than shoulder. - 5
Finish the tray
Lift the lamb to a warm board and cover it loosely. Turn the oven back up to 220C and return the tray of potatoes for 10 to 15 minutes, until the edges are golden, the onions are soft, and the pan juices cling to them in a red-gold gloss. Scrape the tray gently so the good browned bits come loose.
- 6
Rest and serve
Rest the lamb for 20 minutes before carving or pulling it into generous pieces. Spoon the potatoes and onions onto a warm platter, set the lamb over them, and pour the sobrassada-stained juices across the top. Serve it straight away, with bread for the tray juices and a sharp salad beside it if the table needs something green.
Chef Tips
- •Sobrassada de Mallorca is the ingredient to look for first. It should be soft, red with pimentón, and spreadable when warm. Menorcan sobrasada is the closest substitute; a soft Spanish cooking chorizo mashed with a little olive oil works at a pinch, but it gives more chew and less melting fat.
- •Xot means young lamb. Buy a small spring lamb shoulder if you can, with pale fat and a clean smell. If your butcher only has larger lamb, shoulder is still the better cut; give it another 30 to 45 minutes at 160C after the main roasting if it resists the knife.
- •Do not smear sobrassada thickly over the lamb before roasting. It will burn on the surface and leave the meat underseasoned inside. Tuck it into the cuts, where it can melt slowly with the garlic.
- •Use dry white wine, or a little brandy as many island kitchens do. Sweet wine makes the tray sticky too early, before the meat has had time to soften.
- •For the table, a Mallorcan red made with Callet or Mantonegro suits the pimentón-rich fat. If you can't find one, a young Garnacha with good acidity will do the job without fighting the lamb.
Advance Preparation
- •The lamb can be larded, salted, covered, and refrigerated up to 24 hours ahead. Bring it out 1 hour before roasting so it loses its fridge chill.
- •The potatoes can be peeled and cut up to 2 hours ahead; keep them in cold water, then drain and dry them well before they go into the tray.
- •Leftover lamb keeps 3 days covered in the refrigerator. Warm it gently with a spoonful of the pan juices or water so the sobrassada fat loosens again.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 400g)
Calories
770 calories
Total Fat
48 g
Saturated Fat
17 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
28 g
Cholesterol
150 mg
Sodium
1380 mg
Total Carbohydrates
40 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
45 g
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