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Slow Roast Shoulder of Lamb
Posted By Stephen
We have cooked slow roast shoulder of lamb a couple of times in the past and it always looms large in our memories as one of the tastiest meals that we can remember, especially considering that it’s so easy to prepare. Kerri’s family came to visit today and so we gladly took the opportunity to cook this again.
The recipe that we’ve followed is this one, which is based on a recipe from Jamie Oliver. There are not many ingredients and it is simple to prepare, which makes the utter deliciousness all the more brilliant. The lamb cooks for a long time and becomes very tender, falling away from the bone so much that the bones come out completely clean when you remove the meat from them.
The recipe specifies a sauce made from the roasted garlic, with chicken stock, capers, mint and red wine vinegar. We’ve loved this in the past and although it might not sound like it, it does go with food in the same way that a normal gravy would. It just has fresher notes due to the mint and a slight complex bitterness from the capers. Delicious. This time we made it with half the capers and mint that the recipe specified and it was still very good.
We served this with both mashed potato and roast potatoes because different people wanted different types. Also green beans, kale and swede. The sauce magically goes with everything.
The recipe goes like this:
Ingredients:
Lamb:
* 1 (2 kg) lamb shoulder, with the bone in
* 1 bunch fresh rosemary (a large bunch, or two small bunches)
* 1 bulb of garlic, broken into unpeeled cloves (use more if you love garlic)
* olive oil
* salt
* black pepper, freshly ground
Sauce:
* 1 tablespoon flour
* 500 ml chicken stock
* 2 tablespoons salted capers, rinsed and finely chopped
* 1 large bunch fresh mint, leaves only, very finely chopped
* 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Directions
* First, preheat your oven as high as it will go.
* Using a sharp knife, score the fat layer of the lamb at about 1″ (2.5cm) intervals, then do it in the opposite direction to form a diamond pattern. I did this a bit too eagerly, making the intervals too small and cutting through the fat into the meat, but it didn’t matter.
* Pour some olive oil over your lamb, rub it in with your hands and then sprinkle liberally with salt and ground black pepper, rubbing the seasoning in well with your hands too.
* Pour a little olive oil into a lidded casserole dish and lay half of the rosemary sprigs into it, then scatter half of the garlic gloves amongst the rosemary springs.
* Place the lamb into the casserole, on top of the rosemary and garlic and scatter the rest of the rosemary and garlic cloves on top of the lamb.
* Put the lid onto the casserole and put it into the oven on the middle shelf of your pre-heated oven before turning down to 170°C (325°F), or 160°C for a fan-assisted oven.
* Cook for four hours at this temperature. It does not need much attention, it will quite happily cook away to a deliciously soft state.
* Remove the lamb from the casserole; cover it with foil and leave to rest for a while.
* Remove and discard any sprigs of rosemary in the casserole. Don’t worry about the little leaves that have fallen off the sprigs. Remove the roasted garlic cloves to a plate and let them cool a little.
* Remove all but one tablespoon of oil from the pan. We find that a LOT of oil cooks out of the lamb, and it has a strangely green hue from the rosemary. Try to remove only the oil; retain and other juices that have cooked out of the lamb.
* Take some of the roasted garlic cloves and squeeze out the soft, nutty, garlicky insides, mash them up with a spoon and put them back into the casserole.
* Place the casserole on the hob over a medium heat and stir in 1 tablespoon of flour, then stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, gradually add the chicken stock. Boil, stirring, for about 5 minutes.
* Add the finely chopped mint, capers and red wine vinegar, stirring it all in.
* Boil gently for a few minutes, then pour into a jug for serving.
* To serve the lamb, simply pull it away from the bone with a knife and fork or two forks. It should break up very easily.
* Serve the lamb with potatoes, some green vegetables and plenty of the sauce. Delicious.
Jan 26th, 2009
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We have half a lamb in the freezer and I was wondering what on earth to do with it. I think I have found the answer! This look delicious.
Jules’s last blog post..Cookery Club – the beginning
This is my sort of food. So tasty. Do you ever use anchovies with your lamb. It tends to work really well. Adds a really deep savoury note. Classic Hopkinson.
I just love it when you can “carve” with a spoon. Yum.
Jonathan’s last blog post..Dish Dash – Slap Dash
Thanks for dinner on Sunday – the lamb was absolutely delicious – truly the best shoulder of lamb I have ever tasted. I am trying this recipe myself next week.
Keep up the good work.
I had this recipe marked to try too, I love capers so much I couldn’t see me not liking it. The picture of the lamb is great.
Lizzie’s last blog post..Double-Herbed Meatballs
I hope you love it as much as we do Jules, I really don’t think you can go wrong.
We often use anchovies with a leg of lamb Jonathan, it’s a great combination.
Thanks Mum
I hope it’s a success.
There’s nothing to not love Lizzie, it’s such a simple dish but full of great flavours.
Oh my God it looks amazing! So tender – great pictures too. I realy love capers like Lizzie so I reckon I might try this recipe.
Helen’s last blog post..Crispy Chinese Roast Pork Belly.
Mum has tapped me for some of my rosemary bush/tree. I wondered what it was for? And now I know!
Dinner was fantastic by the way!
Those photos are fantastic – the lamb looks absolutely perfect. I really need to get a casserole big enough to hold a shoulder of lamb!
Antonia’s last blog post..Moroccan rack of lamb
Thanks Helen, I reckon you’ll love it too!
Are you going round for lunch, little Brother?
Thanks Antonia, this was actually quite a lot smaller than shoulders we’ve had in the past but any excuse to go shopping huh?!
Oh! That does look good! You’ve inspired me to try it
Niamh’s last blog post..Salsify & Roast Garlic Soup
I cooked this recipe last weekend (with pots dauphinoise) and it was truly divine! I was slightly concerned that 170 was quite hot for four hours of cooking and also because there was no mention of any basting but I stuck to the recipe and it was sooo succulent. My friends were bowled over by my amazing cooking! Winner thanks! I used my largest le creuset and it just squeezed in!
Thanks Niamh, I’m sure you’ll love it too.
That’s really good to hear Susan, I know what you mean about the cooking time and the lack of liquid but somehow it works out perfectly…I guess it has something to do with the amount of fat!
My mouth is totally watering. The meat looks so tender. I have to try this!
c+j’s last blog post..Masala Chai
It’s my favourite way of cooking lamb I think, c+j, I hope you like it.
I am going to try this on Tuesday, will add back with comments.
Good luck Tony, I hope it works out well!
We made this for the second time tonight, thank you! I couldn’t get hold of any fresh mint (will get a plant asap), so subbed parsely instead & it was still lovely.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Good to know about the parsley too.
Is it okay to leave out the capers?
Bubbles, you can leave out the capers if you like. They do give a nice slightly bitter edge to the sauce which goes well with the lamb, but if you don’t like the flavour of them then leave them out, I am sure it will still taste good.
i’ll be trying this tomorrow never tried capers before and im not the biggest mint fan in the world but in for a penny in for a pound it sounds magic i’ll let you know how i get on !
I hope you enjoy it, Davie. The mint and capers add a lighter note to what can be quite a heavy dish. They can be an acquired flavour but are really worthwhile here.
We’re snowed in and I ‘found’ a shoulder of lamb in the chest freezer last night. Cooking this now – after half an hour in the oven it smells divine already – the family will be in a state of torture by the time it comes out
Bev I hope you enjoyed it and it lessened the pain of being snowed in somewhat!
Tried this twice now and amazing results….it is so easy and straightforward. Was surprised there was no need to add liquid or brown the meat initially at a high temperature. Bought a half shoulder of lamb, blade side from Morrisons for about £7.56 and expect there to be about two meals worth of lamb for 2 adults and 2 kids…..mmmmmmm
My mum cooked this yesterday, David, and said the same thing as you about the liquid. I’m glad you enjoyed, it’s such an easy and economical dish.
The lamb cooked perfectly, despite my reservations, and was falling off the bone. For the entire afternoon, the house was fragrant with meaty rosemary. However, the gravy did not turn out as well with the oil refusing to emulsify and the dripping solids turning slightly gluggy. With the moist meat, fortunately, the lumpy gravy was not required anyway.
We had this today too, Kit. I’m glad you enjoyed it, shame about the sauce though. I agree it’s good without but the mint and capers really lift the dish. We find that removing almost all of the oil so that it’s mostly just meat juices left behind makes a sauce that’s not “gluggy”. Hope it works out next time, if you try it again.
It’s a great recipe. I think the heat and duration works because of the way shoulder cooks. Lots of connective tissue. Tastes fantastic but I think the sauce could do with being slightly more acidic. I’m going to experiment with more capers next time. Thanks for the recipe and photos