Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott, adapted from If And When
Preparation time: 15 minutes plus overnight marinating time
Cooking time: 4-5 hours
This recipe is best started the day before
- 2 - 2.2kg/4.4-4.8lbs lamb shoulder (bone in or boneless, boneless will be lighter)
- 120g/4ozs preserved lemon paste*
- 12 garlic cloves, peeled
- Needles from 2 sprigs rosemary
- 2 cups/500ml/1 pint chicken or beef stock
- 1kg/2.2lbs potatoes, small, cut in half
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Toum to serve
Buyer's tip: If you can't find preserved lemon paste and you have preserved lemon pieces, use the same weight and blend up along with the garlic and rosemary.
You can also use a leg of lamb but be careful to not dry it out. I would use 4 cups of stock if you are making a leg of lamb to keep it moist.
Step 1 - Score the skin of the lamb shoulder with diagonal cuts around 1cm/0.4inches wide. Blend the garlic cloves and rosemary needles in a food processor and mix with the preserved lemon paste. Rub all over the lamb shoulder (use gloves if you like) on both sides and place in a deep baking dish and cover tightly with foil. Place in the fridge and allow to marinate overnight.
Step 2 -The next day, four hours and 20 minutes before you want to eat it, take the baking dish out of the fridge and let it sit at temperature while the oven preheats. Preheat oven to 140C/284F fan forced. Add the stock and roast for 2 hours with the foil on tight. After 2 hours remove the foil and add another cup chicken stock if it has evaporated and replace the foil and keep roasting for another 2-3 hours or until tender and easy to pull apart. A boneless lamb shoulder will take less time to cook and may be done after a total of 2-3 hours cooking.
Step 3 -Parboil the potatoes until they are starting to get tender and toss in olive oil and place on a baking tray cut side down. Remove lamb from the oven and increase oven temperature to 200C/400F fan forced. Roast potatoes for 20 minutes while the lamb rests with the foil on loosely tented on it. Then season the golden potatoes with salt and pepper and then add them to the pan and toss in the pan juices. I also brush some of the sticky pan juices onto the lamb. Serve the lamb and potatoes with lemon wedges and rosemary. I add a little salt and pepper but you won't need much salt as the preserved lemon is salty.