Slow Roasted Shoulder Of Lamb Recipe

Yesterday, we had dinner with the family and we all brought something. It’s the kind of simple thing that makes me happy. Nobody is left with doing all the buying and cooking and we are all happy to bring something to share with everyone. I normally bring the cakes but this time, I knew I had something special in the freezer so I wanted to bring the meat. 

Late last year, I received the whole zwartble lamb I had ordered from Olde Farm in Tipperary. The lamb comes butchered to your specifications and if you have a large enough freezer, it’s a brilliant buy. Not only do you get the best meat the country has to offer, but your money goes straight to the farmer and therefore back in the local economy which is, I believe, of great importance. 

So it was with great pleasure that I defrosted, cooked and brought the lamb to the gang. They were amazed that not only did I know, the breed and the county the animal came from but also the name of the farm and of the farmers. I forget that most people don’t always know exactly where their food come from. I know they enjoyed the meat itself greatly, and we had all the chats about food provenance and the rich tapestry of the irish food industry. 

The lamb I used had a peaceful and easy life. It is free range meat of the highest standard. In Ireland, we are lucky that most of our lamb meat is of decent quality. I understand not every one can afford a full lamb but if you ever need help in sourcing good suppliers near you, just shout me and I’ll help you if I can. In this instance, all I will recommend is that you buy Irish lamb instead of imported meat. Shop at the butchers and not in a supermarket. The butcher can bone the shoulder for you at no extra cost and this makes such a difference when it comes to carving the meat. 

Ingredients

• One full shoulder of lamb (this feeds 6 to 8 hungry meat lovers) boned and rolled (your butcher will do that for you at no extra cost. 
• One bulb of garlic
• Two tablespoons of pomegranate molasses
• Two tablespoons of olive oil
• Salt (table salt not finishin salt) and freshly crushed white pepper
• Dry oregano (about a handful)

Method

• Preheat your oven to 110 C
• Take the meat out of the freezer at least one hour before you want to cook it. It needs to be at room temperature. 
• Peel the garlic cloves and slice them lengthways in two or three chunks. Run a sharp knife through the shoulder and make an incision. Insert a garlic bit in the hole and keep going until you have run out of garlic. You should have the garlic skewers spread throughout the meat. 
• Salt the meat generously on all sides. 
• Drizzle the meat with the molasses and the oil on all sides and sprinkle the pepper and the dry oregano until it’s nicely coated. 
• Cook for 90 min and then flip the meat and cook it for a further 90 min. 
• Take it out of the oven and cover it in tin foil. You should let it rest a good 10 min before carving it.