This slow roasted lamb will take the best part of an afternoon to cook. It needs very little hands on time, and is cooked all in one roasting dish. You can then use this for serving your meal family style, at the table.
Head straight on to the Recipe For ♥ Slow Roasted Lamb ♥
The concept of a long, lazy lunch and a siesta afterwards is foreign to us. In South Africa our working day starts at 8am and ends of 5pm. And even though we have a lunch break, it is not conducive to large meals, or naps! But in Italy, life is very different. People go to work at 9am and fetch their children from school for lunch. You will often see families having their main meal of the day at this time. Lunch starts with antipasto (before the meal), followed by a primi course. This first plate of food will usually be a local pasta with a sauce. And in Italy the pasta is the main focus and only a little sauce is used. The secondi will be meat, chicken or fish, depending on the locale, served with verdura (vegetables).
Today’s inspirational recipe from Lavender and Lime ♥ Slow Roasted Lamb ♥ #LavenderAndLime Click To Tweet
And not to forget the pane (bread) which accompanies every meal, eaten as is dipped in olive oil. Or used as scarpetta to wipe your plate clean. Dolce (dessert) follows which may be anything simple or elaborate. Washed down with vino for the adults and acqua for the children. After such a heavy meal it is understandable why one would need to sleep! Afternoons are set aside for more work and school before gathering in the piazza for aperitivo. Snacks and a glass of prosecco is all that is needed. I usually do not nap in the afternoon as it affects my night time sleep. But the day we got back from overseas I slept soundly in the late afternoon for 90 minutes. It was the best sleep I had for a long while. And I slept even better that first night back.
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Slow Roasted Lamb
Ingredients
- 2 kg lamb shoulder (bone in)
- 5 cm fresh root ginger, peeled and divided
- 1 pinch fine salt
- 60 mls olive oil, divided
- ground cumin to season
- 700 g baby potatoes, halved
- 400 g baby carrots
- 2 onions, peeled, cut in half and finely sliced
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
- 300 mls red wine
- 200 mls water
- 2 lemons, zest and juice
- 175 g cous cous
- 100 g golden sulatanas
- 300 g thick yoghurt
Method
- Preheat the oven to 190° Celsius
- Trim any excess fat off the lamb and make several incisions into the meat with a small sharp knife
- Cut 1cm of the ginger into fine slivers and stuff these into the incisions
- Place the rest of the ginger into a mortar with a pinch of salt and grind to a paste using a pestle
- Add 30 mls olive oil and stir to combine then rub over the lamb
- Generously season the lamb with cumin
- Place the potatoes, carrots and onions into a large roasting tin
- Pour the remaining olive oil over the vegetables, add the rosemary and season generously, then toss the vegetables
- Place the wine, water, lemon zest and juice into a jug and stir to combine
- Pour over the vegetables and then place the lamb on top of the vegetables
- Cover the tin with foil, creating a tent over the meat and place into the oven for 30 minutes
- Reduce the oven temperature to 150° Celsius and cook for a further 4 hours
- Remove the tin from the oven and remove the foil
- Increase the oven temperature to 220° Celsius
- Scatter the cous cous around the meat, submerging the grains in the liquid then scatter over the sultanas
- Place back into the oven for 30 minutes
- Remove from the oven and leave the meat to rest for 10 minutes
- Remove the meat and carve into slices, then return to the tin and serve family style with the yoghurt in a separate bowl for people to add to the meat
View the previous posts on June 13:
- 2022: Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
- 2021: 21st Birthday
- 2018: Which Whisk Is Which
- 2016: Octopus Spaghetti
- 2013: Fennel Parmigiana
- 2012: Carrot And Beetroot Soup
- 2011: The Post House
Absolutely love your recipe and shall prepare it your way next time . . . the couscous finale attracts but has not usually been part of my beloved lamb saga! As my library office lies about 5 metres from my kitchen door the cooking time does not worry! Horses for courses – for most of my life and especially now, lunch is my main meal time. For well over two decades 3- and 4-hour lkunches at least 2-=-3 times a week were de rigeur – they make me alive and quite a fair few glasses of wine > well, I am used to it , love it and feel absolutely no difference! Dinner is for restaurant visiting with friends and going to their dinner parties . . . to each their own! If you asked me what I most enjoy in life . . oh theatre and ballet and opera and art galleries and travel, especially in the East naturally, but 4 hour lunches most of all . . . !!!
I love the idea of long lunches – but work does not allow for that 😉
Good way to cook a fatty shoulder
Thank you Sheree 🙂
Hi Tandy, this sounds delicious. I will try it in July when we have our family gathering.
Enjoy!
i always wonder how people cope with such heavy meals in the day and then eating late at night. seems so counter-intuitive:-) My MIL used to make roast lamb; oh dear it was not a good look – grey and bland and we don’t eat lamb … She was at ours one time and i added rosemary and garlic and olive oil to it – mm yes much better )
grey food should be banned haha 😉
absolutely 🙂 I do love one-pot or dish cooking though – that’s why I love making a traybake!
I should do more of those 🙂
Looks amazing, a proper dinner.
Amalia
xo
Thank you Amalia!
Love this recipe Tandy, it sounds perfect for a casual meal with friends.
Thank you Karen, it was absolutely perfect for that very occasion 🙂