Roasted lamb shoulder with rosemary and garlic

Posted on | October 27, 2008 |

Roasting a big piece of lamb is always something I consider to be a special moment. This weekend I decided that I’d roast a boneless shoulder of Welsh lamb very simply, and have it as a very rustic, country Sunday dinner.

The recipe comes from Jamie Oliver’s ‘Jamie at Home’ book where he celebrates good lamb by complimenting it with a simple flavour base of garlic and rosemary. Jamie actually serves the roasted shoulder of lamb with mashed swede, carrots, and potatoes, but I’d thought I try serving it with soft polenta, carrots, and garden peas. I also introduced a lemon to the lamb in order to add a little zing to the rich lamb.

Ingredients:

A lamb shoulder, with or without the bone, usually between 800g to 2kg,
A large bunch of fresh rosemary,
1 lemon,
8 cloves of garlic, unpeeled, slightly crushed,
Olive oil,
Salt and pepper,
400ml of lamb or chicken stock,
1tsp of mint sauce

Pre-heat your oven to it’s maximum.
Trim the shoulder of any excess fat. Rub olive oil all over the joint and season with plenty of salt and pepper.
In a roasting tin, place half the rosemary, half the garlic, and half the lemon on the bottom. Place the lamb on top. Tuck the rest of the garlic, rosemary, and lemon in and on top of the shoulder. Cover the roasting tin tightly with tin foil and place in the oven. Turn down the heat to 170C/Gas mark 3 and cook for 3 hours for any shoulder around 1kg, and four hours for a shoulder around 2kg.
Once the cooking time is up, remove the lamb from the tin, cover with tin foil and then a tea towel and leave to rest while you prepare the rest of the meal.
Drain any excess fat from the roasting tin, and use a sieve to remove the rosemary, lemon, and garlic, pouring the roasting juices into a jug. Allow to sit until the fat rises to the top, and soak it up with some kitchen paper.
Add the stock and the mint sauce to the roasting juices and keep warm. Add a little flour to thicken if required.
With two forks pull the lamb meat apart into shreds and fat chunks.
Serve with roast potatoes, polenta, or mash, and plenty of veg.

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