Charlie Palmer’s succulent,herb-crusted lamb

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Place the garlic on a sheet of foil, drizzle with oil. Fold the foil around the garlic and bake for 30 minutes, or until the garlic is very soft and can be pierced with a knife.

Place the roasted garlic cloves together in a bowl and mash together with a fork. Add the remaining ingredients and continue to mash with the fork until a paste is formed. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut away any excess fat from the lamb. Season liberally on all sides with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Stud the leg of lamb evenly with the garlic cloves, pushing them in far enough so that they don’t get squeezed out as the meat constricts during cooking.

Place the roasting pan on the stove. Pour just enough oil into the pan to cover the bottom. Sear the lamb on all sides.

Brush the Dijon and roasted garlic seasoning evenly over the top of the lamb, then place into the oven. Note: If you are lucky enough to have a convection oven, another searing method that can be a bit less cumbersome for a whole leg of lamb is to preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Roast the lamb, turning halfway, for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and cook for an hour and 20 minutes more, or till an internal temperature of 130 degrees is reached

Roast for 1½ hours or until an instant-read thermometer registers at 130 degrees F. This will give you a nice medium-rare to medium. Remove from the oven and allow to rest in a warm area of the kitchen for at least 10 minutes before carving.

Cut a round of parchment paper the same diameter as the pot you're using and set aside. 

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, sweat the carrot, onion and garlic with the fennel seed. Add the wine, water, vinegar, oil and lemon zest, and season with salt and white pepper. Bring to a simmer, add the artichokes, cover with the parchment, and simmer slowly until the artichokes are tender. A good way to tell whether they are done without puncturing them is to remove one from the broth and try to push out the choke with the back of a spoon; it should slip out pretty easily. 

Remove the pan from the heat and discard the parchment. Push the basil in among the artichokes and set aside to infuse and cool. After the artichokes have cooled enough to handle, press out the chokes with your thumbs; quarter the hearts and return them to the pan.  

Sauté onion and garlic in the butter and a good pinch of salt for about 2 minutes, or until the onions are just soft

Add farro; stir farro about 3 minutes. Add wine and simmer until absorbed, stirring occasionally, add 1 cup of warm chicken stock. Repeat this process until the farro is tender; to finish stir in the Parmesan cheese and mascarpone

Adjust seasoning and serve topped with the herbs.