“Cooking a whole lamb shoulder is the perfect way to feed a crowd. The beauty of slow-cooking big joints like this is that you end up with lots of lovely leftovers to shred up and use up in salads, burritos, pastas – you name it.” - Jamie Oliver
Recipe By Jamie Oliver
Ingredients:
1 x L.A. FARMS Free-Range Lamb Shoulder, bone in
1 bunch of fresh rosemary
1 bulb of garlic
2 teaspoons English mustard
olive oil
6 red onions
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon plain flour
Root Veg Mash:
400 g carrots
2 cloves of garlic
400 g floury potatoes
400 g parsnips
extra virgin olive oil
Method:
- Remove the lamb shoulder from the fridge and allow to come up to room temperature.
- Preheat the oven at 200ºC.
- Pick most of the rosemary leaves into a pestle and mortar and bash with a pinch of sea salt. Peel and add 2 cloves of garlic and bash again. Muddle in the English mustard and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
- Slash the lamb all over with a sharp knife, season with black pepper, then rub the rosemary mixture all over the lamb, making sure to get into all the nooks and crannies.
- Peel and thickly slice the onions, then place in a large deep roasting tray with the remaining rosemary and unpeeled garlic cloves. Drizzle with the balsamic vinegar and pour in 200ml of cold water.
- Place the lamb shoulder on top and roast for 20 minutes.
- Carefully remove the tray from the oven and cover tightly with a double layer of tin foil, then return to the oven, turn the heat down to 160ºC, and cook for 4 hours, or until the meat pulls easily away from the bone.
- Remove the shoulder to a platter, cover loosely with the foil and leave to rest.
- Skim the fat from the tray, pick out and discard the rosemary, and squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins.
- Place the tray on the hob over a medium heat, stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add 500ml of boiling water and stir well. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, or until thick and glossy.
- To make the root veg mash, peel and roughly chop the carrots and peel 2 cloves of garlic. Place in a large pan of boiling salted water over a medium-high heat and cook for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile peel and roughly chop the potatoes and parsnips, add them to the pan of boiling water with the carrots then cook for a further 15 minutes, or until tender.
- Drain in a colander and leave to steam dry. Tip back into the pan, add a lug of extra virgin olive oil, then mash with a potato masher. Season to taste.
- Shred up the lamb and serve up with the mash and onion gravy. Delicious served with steamed seasonal greens.
Tips
To make a lovely fresh apple and mint salsa, core and matchstick 2 apples and place in a bowl. Pick the leaves from 1 bunch of fresh mint, trim 2 spring onions and finely chop both. Add to the bowl and mix in 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and 1 heaped teaspoon of English mustard. Season and serve!