Pull your lamb out of the fridge about 45 minutes before cooking so it reaches room temperature. This is the secret move that actually makes a difference—I learned this the hard way after serving cold lamb that cooked unevenly. Pat it completely dry with paper towels, then place it on your roasting pan.

Mince your garlic cloves and finely chop the rosemary and thyme together. Mix them in a small bowl with the olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, and lemon zest until you've got a paste. This herb mixture is basically your flavor bomb, so don't skimp on the amount.

Rub that paste all over the lamb, getting into every crevice and covering the scored fat cap generously. You want it looking kinda messy and totally coated—that's how you know you did it right. Tuck the bay leaves underneath the roast.

Preheat your oven to 375°F and make sure the rack is positioned in the center. Place your prepared Easter leg of lamb recipe into the oven and roast for about 1 hour and 45 minutes for medium-rare (around 130°F internal temp). Check the temperature with a meat thermometer in the thickest part after 1 hour 30 minutes.

If the top is browning too fast (which happened to me once), tent it loosely with foil after about an hour. The outside should look golden and crusty, not burnt—that's your signal that everything's coming together perfectly.

Once it hits your target temperature, remove it from the oven and let it rest for at least 15 minutes before carving. Don't skip this step because I did once and the juice ran everywhere on the cutting board instead of staying inside the meat.

Carve against the grain into slices, arrange on a serving platter, and drizzle with the pan juices. Taste one bite and adjust seasoning if needed—sometimes I add a tiny pinch more salt depending on how salty my herb rub was.