Lamb Shoulder Roast With Spring Vegetables
Friends came over for Easter dinner and I wanted to serve a special main dish that screamed Spring, what comes to mind is lamb and to accompany the lamb a variety of vegetables. I bought a boneless lamb shoulder roast weighing 3.65 pounds trimmed and tied. I really don’t cook or eat that much meat especially roasts and did a search online for some ways to prepare.A meal that was simple, no fuss and tasty was key. Jamie Olivers roast lamb shoulder sounded great, flavored with rosemary, salt, pepper and garlic and roasted until so tender it falls apart. The rosemary in my garden is still around, can’t believe it lasted outside all winter and I had just enough for this recipe. Mr. Oliver cranks up the heat in the oven as high as it goes, lays rosemary and unpeeled garlic cloves at the bottom of a baking tray or roasting pan, rubs the meat with salt and pepper, gives it a good dose of olive oil, puts more rosemary and garlic on top of the meat, covers and roasts. Once you put the pan in the oven you immediately lower the oven temp to 325 and leave it for about 3 1/2-4 hours. In the end you have a lovely tender and fragrant lamb roast. After roasting you make a gravy from the pan drippings. The meat was so tender I couldn’t slice it, it fell apart as I touched it that’s why it looks so sloppy. It really was so good and so easy to prepare, no fuss at all.
The vegetables I used are peas, carrots and asparagus. The carrots and asparagus were roasted in the oven and the peas steamed and smothered in butter. I also had some small yukon gold potatoes that I boiled then drained, put in a buttered oval casserole and oven roasted at 400 degree’s covered with foil until the potatoes just began to brown, approximately 45 minutes.
There were leftovers which I made into a shepherds pie, just mix leftover gravy with the meat and vegetables, mash some potatoes, spread on top and bake at 400 degree’s until the mash crust is browned and filling is bubbly.
Jamie Olivers Roasted Lamb Shoulder
One boneless lamb shoulder roast (Mine was 3.65 lbs)
1/2 bulb garlic peel on and gently smashed
2 red onions peeled and quartered
6-8 sprigs fresh rosemary
olive oil
salt and pepper
You will need a roasting pan with a lid or if you don’t have you can cover this with tin foil. Heat the oven as high as it goes which in my case was 550 degree’s. Drizzle a little olive oil in the bottom of your pan and lay several sprigs of rosemary and half of the garlic which you smashed peel and all. Rub some olive oil on the lamb and season with salt and pepper. Lay on the rosemary and garlic. Put another sprig or two of rosemary on top along with the rest of the garlic. Surround the meat with the onion quarters and put the lid on or cover tightly with foil. Place in the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 325 degree’s. Roast for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.
Remove from the oven and pick out the rosemary (discard), onion and garlic. Pour through a sieve, pressing the onion and garlic and pour into a pan where you will reduce by about 1/3. Make a slurry using 1 tbs of flour and add to the reduced pan juices along with some wine, broth or water, just a little. Whisk until it thickens. Serve along side the roast.
My favorite part of the meal is the spring vegetables, I wasn’t lucky enough to find them at the farmers market, there are still a few weeks left before they appear according to the farmers. I was able to get some incredibly fresh vegetables at the store and some frozen peas. No recipe required for the vegetables, the carrots and asparagus are oven roasted with salt and pepper and olive oil, the peas are steamed and then I put them all together on a platter with some good salted butter.
Leftovers made into shepherds pie
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