Roast Lamb with Pesto Tomato Sauce

Nothing says Spring quite like lamb. This weekend, I was fortunate enough to find a large boneless lamb roast (New Zealand grass fed lamb) at Trader Joe's for a reasonable price. It was $20.00 for 5-6 servings, which makes this meal about $5 per serving.
The recipe is simple and yummy:

Roast Lamb with Pesto Tomato Sauce

1 T. olive oil
2 T. chopped fresh thyme
1 T. chopped fresh rosemary
4 cloves garlic, pressed and finely chopped
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt and Pepper

Mix olive oil, thyme, rosemary, garlic and lemon together, and rub roast throughly with it. Add salt and pepper to taste, and place in a roasting pan. Roast in the oven for approximately 20 minutes per pound at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 C).

When the lamb is done, remove from pan and collect drippings.

Pesto Tomato Sauce:

Make pesto by combining the following ingredients in a blender or food processor and blending until you have a nice paste, add more oil or lemon juice if you wish to thin it out a bit...

3 cups fresh basil leaves
1 cup arugula leaves
1/2 cups chopped walnuts or pine nuts
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes
5 cloves garlic, peeled
1 t. lemon zest grated finely
1 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Saute two chopped scallions in a pan for about two minutes with the drippings from the lamb, then slowly add in the pesto, stirring continuously, and 2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for 15 minutes. Serve warm over sliced lamb.

I served mine with fried zucchini, which was a nice complement to the sauce and was also within my budget!

The result:

Very edible, in fact I will probably make this again. I added lemon juice to my pesto to thin it out a bit, which made it a bit too lemony for me, but it was still very good. The drippings from the lamb added a nice depth to the sauce. I have lots of lamb left over which will be excellent for Greek salad. Yum!