I'm the kind of cook who likes to do a roast without thinking - throw a large hunk of meat at the Aga, roast potatoes and green veg in abundance for the masses, but this time I looked for something a little different.
This recipe, from the BBC Good Food website - where there are some excellent recipes to be discovered - calls not just for garlic and rosemary, but also anchovies and capers, with plenty of olive oil, red onions, lemons and white wine.
The ingredients are as follows: This is taken directly from the recipe you'll find on the BBC Good Food website
- 4 rosemary sprigs, leaves removed
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tbsp capers, finely chopped
- 3 anchovy fillets in oil, drained and finely chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 whole lemons
- 1½ kg shoulder of lamb, on the bone
- 2 red onions, cut into wedges
- small glass white wine
Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3.
Finely chop the rosemary, then mix
with the garlic, capers, anchovies,
olive oil and zest and juice of 1 lemon,
reserving the used lemon halves.
Make 3-4 slashes across the top of
the shoulder, then rub the rosemary
mixture all over the lamb.
Scatter the onion into the base of a large roasting tin, cut the remaining lemon in half, squeeze the juices into the tin, and place all the used lemon halves in the tin with the onions. Place the lamb on top and roast for 1 hr. Pour in the wine and roast for a further 3 hrs until the meat is really tender. Leave to rest for 15 mins then serve, pulled into chunks rather than carved, with any pan juices.
Scatter the onion into the base of a large roasting tin, cut the remaining lemon in half, squeeze the juices into the tin, and place all the used lemon halves in the tin with the onions. Place the lamb on top and roast for 1 hr. Pour in the wine and roast for a further 3 hrs until the meat is really tender. Leave to rest for 15 mins then serve, pulled into chunks rather than carved, with any pan juices.
This is a particularly good recipe if you're feeding a crowd as it goes in so early and it doesn't matter if it sits about a bit at the end, giving you time to do everything else and then pull this out of the oven with a 'voila'.
Ignore anyone who says they don't like anchovies and capers. You really don't taste them. They just contribute to the delicious coating on the meat and the depth of the gravy.
Ignore anyone who says they don't like anchovies and capers. You really don't taste them. They just contribute to the delicious coating on the meat and the depth of the gravy.
