Name: Spit-Roasted Lamb
Yield: 12
Cuisine: Greek
Ingredients: 1 leg of lamb, bone-in (about 6 lbs) — the home-scale stand-in for the whole beast; 6 cloves garlic, slivered; ¼ cup olive oil; Juice of 2 lemons; 2 tablespoons dried oregano (Greek, on the stem if you can); 1 tablespoon salt; black pepper; Potatoes, quartered, for the pan

In the movie

Theatrical

01:00:51 The meet-the-parents party: the Portokalos front lawn features a whole lamb roasting on a spit, ouzo circulating, and the Millers frozen on the sidewalk. Also invoked in Aunt Voula's immortal 'He don't eat no meat?! ...That's okay. I make lamb.'

The lawn lamb announces exactly what the Millers are marrying into: a family whose love language is abundance. And Aunt Voula's line became the film's most quoted moment — the warmest possible way to completely miss the point of vegetarianism.

Ingredients

1 leg of lamb, bone-in (about 6 lbs) — the home-scale stand-in for the whole beast

6 cloves garlic, slivered

¼ cup olive oil

Juice of 2 lemons

2 tablespoons dried oregano (Greek, on the stem if you can)

1 tablespoon salt

black pepper

Potatoes, quartered, for the pan

Method

Stab the lamb all over and push in the garlic slivers. Rub with oil, lemon, oregano, salt, and pepper; marinate overnight.
Set on a rack over the potatoes with a splash of water in the pan.
Roast at 450°F for 20 minutes, then 350°F for about 1¾ hours for blushing-pink (135°F on an instant-read thermometer at the thickest part, away from the bone; the USDA-safe mark is 145°F after the rest), or keep going to Greek-grandmother tenderness (well-done and falling apart is traditional and correct here).
Rest 20 minutes; the potatoes finish crisping while it rests.
Carve generously. If someone doesn't eat meat, that's okay — make them lamb.

Substitutions

Whole lamb on a spit: a bone-in leg is the right home-scale version. You lose the lawn-party spectacle, but lemon, garlic, oregano, and lamb fat still tell the same story on a normal oven timeline.
Leg of lamb: lamb shoulder is cheaper and more forgiving if you prefer well-done, falling-apart meat. Roast it lower and longer, and keep the potatoes underneath.
Greek oregano: Mediterranean oregano is closest. Italian oregano works; Mexican oregano is more citrusy and assertive, so use less.
No lamb: chicken thighs with the same lemon-garlic-oregano marinade make a good non-lamb platter, but it changes the joke. Aunt Voula would probably still bring lamb.

Spit-Roasted Lamb

In the movie

Theatrical

Ingredients

Method

Substitutions

Beyond the recipe

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