For this week’s newsletter, I am going with one of my bestie’s recipes, Dom’s slow cooked lamb shoulder. I didn’t use to like lamb until I tried this. She served it at a Christmas party, dolloped on crusty bread with a bit of rose harissa and crumbled feta on top, and I couldn’t get enough. I made it for my family on Boxing Day last year and it was definitely a crowd pleaser, and not difficult to make at all. I was a vegetarian for a long time (I went back to eating meat late in my first pregnancy), so it took me a while to get the confidence in cooking big joints of meat, but it's very satisfying and it's so nice serving to a group of people - feels fancy and adult.
Dom’s Minty Pulled Lamb Shoulder
Serves 6
Ingredients
1 bone-in lamb shoulder (about 2kg)
3 tbsp Dijon mustard, for the rub
750ml lamb or chicken stock
40g fresh parsley, chopped
3 tbsp mint sauce
1 tbsp Dijon mustard, to finish
Salt and pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 160°C.
Cover the lamb shoulder all over with Dijon mustard then season with a generous grind of salt and black pepper.
Sit the lamb in a deep roasting tin and pour 750ml lamb or chicken stock around it (not on top of it) so it comes a couple of inches up the sides. You want the bottom of the lamb sitting in stock, not covered.
Scrunch up a sheet of baking paper, unscrunch, and lay it over the lamb so it's touching the meat, then cover the whole tin tightly with foil.
Roast for 3 hours. You can check after 2 hours by uncovering and sticking a fork in: if it’s still firm, it needs longer. It’s ready for the next step when a fork moves through it with ease.
Take off the foil and paper. Spoon out some of the stock and keep it to one side, then turn the oven up to 180°C and roast uncovered for another hour.
Pull the meat off the bone and shred it with two forks. Do this while it is still hot as it's easier to shred before it cools. There will be some jelly-like fatty stuff next to the bone, get rid of that.
Add the fresh parsley, mint sauce, Dijon mustard and a splash of the reserved stock, and give it a good mix, et voilà.
Serve alongside roasties, or with some nice crusty bread and salad, or tucked in some flat bread.
Notes. Freezes well once shredded: cool, portion with a little of the reserved stock to keep it moist, and freeze for up to 3 months.
If getting the lamb joint from the butchers, ask for it to be cut at the joint so that it fits easier in the pan.