Balsamic lamb shoulder
With easy mint gravy
5 hrs 30 mins
Not Too Tricky
serves 6
About the recipe
Slow-cooking this lovely lamb shoulder yields beautiful results – tender, falling-off-the-bone meat with a super-sticky, gnarly finish from the balsamic.
Ingredients
2.5kg higher-welfare lamb shoulder
4 red onions
1 bulb of garlic
olive oil
½ a bunch of fresh rosemary (15g)
1 whole nutmeg, for grating
200ml balsamic vinegar
1 bunch of fresh mint (30g)
1 heaped tablespoon plain flour
Method
- Around 30 minutes before cooking, remove the lamb from the fridge and allow to come up to room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 150ºC/300ºF/gas 2. Peel and roughly slice 4 red onions, then place in a deep roasting tray. Halve and add 1 bulb of garlic, then lay the lamb on top.
- Drizzle over a little oil, then pick, roughly chop and sprinkle over the leaves from ½ a bunch of fresh rosemary. Finely grate over half of 1 whole nutmeg, add a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper and rub all over the lamb.
- Drizzle over 200ml of balsamic vinegar, add a good splash of water to the tray and cover tightly with a double layer of tin foil.
- Cook in the oven for 5 hours, removing the foil for the final hour, until the meat is tender and almost falling off the bone and the outside is super-sticky and gnarly – add splashes of water, if needed, and baste with the pan juices occasionally.
- Place the lamb onto a serving platter, cover with tin foil and leave to rest while you make the gravy.
- Pick and roughly chop the leaves from 1 bunch of fresh mint. Skim away the fat from the top of the roasting tray and place on the hob over a medium heat. Whisk in 1 heaped tablespoon of plain flour, pour in 400ml of boiling water then add the mint and simmer gently for 10 minutes, or until thick and glossy, stirring regularly.
- Sieve the minty gravy into a jug and serve alongside the lamb with some potato and celeriac mash and steamed seasonal greens, if you like.
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