Cooking a shoulder of lamb the right way allows this tough cut of meat to break down over time, rendering it moist, tender and full of flavour.
The secret to cooking the best shoulder of lamb is to roast for at a low temperature for a longer time.
To get the best out of the meat, food experts at BBC Good Food have shared their slow-roasted shoulder of lamb recipe.
They claimed that this produces “perfectly marinated meat that melts in the mouth” and is a “guaranteed crowd-pleaser”.
The meat can be “easily” prepped in 15 minutes and needs five hours to cook.
Ingredients
2kg lamb shoulder
Three onions
For the marinade
One shallot, halved
Four garlic cloves
Four cherry tomatoes
Two anchovies
Half a teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted
Half a teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted
Half a teaspoon pink peppercorns
Two tablespoons rosemary leaves
One thyme sprig, leaves picked
Small bunch mint leaves, chopped
70ml white mine
Four tablespoons olive oil
One tablespoon brown sugar
Zest and juice of one lemon
For the gremolata
Zest of half a lemon
One garlic clove, crushed
One tablespoon mint, finely chopped
Method
Begin by getting to work on the marinade for the lamb. To do so, blitz the shallot, garlic cloves, cherry tomatoes, anchovies, toasted cumin seeds, toasted coriander seeds, pink peppercorns, rosemary leaves, thyme, mint, white wine, olive oil, brown sugar and zest of juice of a lemon in a food processor.
The next step is to pierce the lamb shoulder all over with a sharp knife, put it in a large roasting tin and slather the marinade onto the meat, making sure to coat it thoroughly.
Then cover the lamb with cling film and leave it in the fridge for at least three hours, preferably overnight, for the flavours to marinate.
After, take the lamb out of the fridge at least half an hour before you cook it to bring it to room temperature and preheat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3.
Put the onions, each sliced into three thick disks, in the roasting tin and rest the lamb on top. Cover with tented foil and roast for five hours.
It is important to keep basting the meat regularly during the cooking process. Basting is when you pour the juices and fat that have escaped from the meat back over the meat to keep it moist and add flavour.
Once the five hours are up, remove the lamb from the oven transfer it to a board and allow it to rest, covered, for at least 30 minutes.
Then return the meat to the tin of onions and marinating juices to the oven to keep warm.
Combine the zest of half a lemon, crushed garlic clove and finely chopped mint in a bowl.
Pull the lamb apart with forks and serve with the roasted onions and gremolata scattered over. Skim off any fat from the juices and serve alongside the lamb.
