Though it may look as though this recipe requires a number of steps, it is actually incredibly easy and light on the washing up.
Highly rewarding in flavour it offers a chance to savour the often undervalued flavour of lamb shoulder. Served alongside some of our most cherished springtime ingredients and with a lighter, herb infused jus it offers a fresh approach to the traditional Sunday roast.
Serves 4-6
Marinade:
Slow Cooking:
Roasting:
Herbed Jus:
Prepare the marinade by putting all of the ingredients into a high-speed blender and blitzing until you get a bright, green paste. Rub half of the marinade all over the lamb shoulder and leave overnight if you can, keeping the remaining half of the marinade for cooking.
When ready to slow cook, put the lamb shoulder into a heavy-bottomed saucepan with the white wine, red onion, lemon and 2 rosemary sprigs. Cover with a lid and place into the centre of the oven at 160°C to gently cook for 2 hours.
While the lamb is slow cooking, wash the potatoes and slice thinly to just below the centre before fanning out to make your hasselbacks. Place into a bowl with 1 tbsp of olive oil and a little salt and toss together until evenly coated. Transfer to a roasting tray with the garlic bulbs and salad onions.
Once the lamb is beginning to soften, remove from the pan (reserving the liquid) and place into the roasting tray over the top of the salad onions and arranging the potatoes and garlic around the edge. Smother the remaining marinade onto the top of the lamb and return to the oven at 220°C for 20 minutes before turning the temperature down to 200°C and cooking for a further 40 minutes. Next, add the asparagus and cavolo nero and continue to roast for a final 15 minutes.
While the lamb is roasting, strain the reserved slow cooking liquid and pour into a high-speed blender with the mint, parsley, salt and lemon juice and blitz until you get a lovely green jus. Return to the pan ready to heat through just before serving.
Remove the roasting tray from the oven when the potatoes are wonderfully golden and the lamb succulent and soft. Place the lamb onto a board to rest while you heat the jus through and place the roast vegetables onto a platter. Using a fork, gently pull the lamb from the bone – if cooked through, it should come away with ease. Serve warm as a delicious celebration of the season.
Winter in the Cotswolds is a season of retreat and refuge. Fields lie pale beneath the cold sky, villages seem suspended in stillness and a rare sense of calm and quiet descends over the landscape.
