An Easter lamb roast you’ll want to cook every other week too
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I am not religious, nor do I eat meat! But something about Easter always triggers the desire in me to cook lamb for my family.
I know it is a tradition for Greek families to eat lamb at this time of year, and maybe I have been influenced by the Xyrakis family, who owns my local IGA.
In any event, here is a slow-cooked lamb shoulder recipe that is foolproof for even the non-meat eaters to attempt, and the accompanying lemony potatoes recipe is a winner no matter what your ancestral roots.
Note: For those who follow me on Instagram, it is clear I am a rather lackadaisical cook, going on “vibe” more than recipe and never quite remembering how much of anything I have added, much less how long I cook for or what temp the oven was on.
However, I do feel confident to pass on this recipe as loosely as it is based on.
Prior to the long and slow bake…
You will need
One shoulder of lamb, bone in.
Four large onions
Three lemons
A large amount of rosemary (we have a bush and I grab about ten hardy stems off it)
Two bulbs of garlic.
Ten large King Edward potatoes
A jar of Dijon mustard
All the usual accompanying things of good olive oil, salt and pepper.
For the lamb
Get the shoulder to room temperature.
In a small bowl, mix two or three generous tablespoons of Dijon mustard with about eight cloves of garlic (crushed), and a quarter of a cup of olive oil. Take one or two rosemary sprigs and pull the stem out so you can stir the little leaves into the mix. Add a teaspoon each of salt and pepper. It should be thickish, like yoghurt, and enough to rub all over the lamb.
In the bottom of a large baking dish, cut your onions into quarters and slice up two lemons before throwing your rosemary stems on top.
Place the lamb on top of the other stuff and pour a centimetre of water into the bottom of the tray. I sprinkle extra salt on top.
Next you need to seal the tray with aluminium foil to create an airtight environment. You want all the juices to stay in the tray. (I triple wrapped my tray in foil and took extra care to scrunch it tightly around the edges. I am not kidding, this is important!)
Pre-heat your oven to the highest it will go (mine is 250 degrees) and place the tray in for 20 minutes before turning the oven down to 160 degrees. Leave the lamb in for a minimum of 5 hours, ideally 6.
At 5.5 hours, very carefully lift the foil off and pour some of the juices over the top of the lamb (I also snuck a little olive oil and salt at this point) and then whack it back in for another 30 minutes to brown the top of the meat.
Take it out of the oven when it is golden on top, and recover it in foil and let it rest. Ideally, it should be gelatinous, and the bone should pull out easily. Don’t forget to serve the soft golden onions from the bottom of the pan.
For the potatoes
These potatoes were better than chocolate Easter eggs
Peel the potatoes and cut them into long and chunky wedges.
In another bowl, you are going to do the same sort of marinade as you made for your lamb, but with a few tweaks. Take two heaped tablespoons of Dijon mustard and a quarter to half a cup of olive oil. Then you are going to squeeze the juice of two large and juicy lemons. Most importantly, zest the skin of the lemon into the mix and add another eight crushed garlic cloves (does your family love garlic as much as mine does? I won’t be offended if this is too much and you can adjust to suit).
Add tonnes of salt and pepper. (Scientifically, this equates to two teaspoons of salt and one of pepper). Mix the potatoes in the dressing and chuck them in the oven. It will take an hour or so to cook them, and you will need to wait until they develop a golden crust. You can turn them over to make sure they are evenly golden. The marinade creates a sweet and crispy coating, and the lemon kick is utterly divine. Honestly, cannot speak highly enough of them.
Happy Easter, friends!
Note: Deepest apologies for the photos; I didn’t take any good ones as I wasn’t expecting to write up this recipe (but it was so delicious I had to share), and instead I screen-grabbed what little I had.
