Pulled Shoulder of Lamb

What better dish than lamb in springtime? Instead of the more expensive cuts of lamb such as leg, why not try this slow roasted shoulder of lamb.

This dish is simple yet utterly delicious. It is roasted in the oven for a good four hours on a low heat and when cooked the meat will flake off the bone with ease, it can also be pulled off by hand which is why sometimes this dish is called ‘pulled lamb’. It is such a wonderful feast.

If possible, it is best to buy your meat from a good butcher as the meat will then have had the appropriate hanging which will add to the flavour. The sauce with this dish allows you to use all of the goodness accumulated in the tray from the long slow roasting of the meat. I like to serve this lamb with some sautéed potatoes, some roasted vegetables or some spring cabbage.  

Ingredients

Serves 6-8

2kg shoulder of lamb

1 large bunch of rosemary

olive oil

ses salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 bulb of garlic, unpeeled and broken into cloves

For the sauce

1 tablespoon corn flour

splash of red wine

500ml water

1 large bunch of fresh mint, leaves picked

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Method

1. Preheat your oven to full heat.

2. Slash the fat side of the lamb all over with a sharp knife across the length of piece of meat. Lay half the sprigs of rosemary and half the garlic cloves on the bottom of a high-sided roasting tray, rub the lamb all over with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

3. Place the lamb in the tray on top of the rosemary and garlic, and put the rest of the rosemary and garlic on top of the lamb. Tightly cover the tray with tinfoil and place in the oven.

4. Turn the oven down immediately to 170°C/325°F/gas 3 and cook for 4 hours – it's done if you can pull the meat apart easily with two forks.


5. Remove the lamb from the oven and place it on a chopping board. Cover it with tinfoil, then a tea towel, and leave it to rest.

6. Pour away most of the fat from the roasting tray, discarding any bits of rosemary stalk. Put the tray on the hob and mix in the flour. Add a splash of wine and the redcurrant jelly and mix in well. Next add the water, stirring and scraping all the sticky goodness off the bottom of the tray. You won't need a lot of gravy, just a couple of flavoursome spoonfuls each.

7. Finely chop the mint and add it to the sauce with the red wine vinegar at the last minute then pour into a jug.

8. Place everything in the middle of the table, and shred the lamb in front of your guests. Serve with your chosen vegetables.