Our favourite slow cooked Tassie lamb recipe

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Slow cooked, fall-apart-in-your-mouth roast lamb is synonymous with Spring, and Tasmania produces some of the very best. Slide your grass fed, free range lamb shoulder into a slow oven after a breakfast of coffee and cantucci, and it will be ready for a late lunch.

Our favourite accompaniments? Oysters to start, something green in the middle, and sliced Tassie apples and cheese to finish. Cool climate pinot noir throughout, of course.

Ingredients

Serves 6

  • 1 big bunch of fresh rosemary

  • 1 bulb of garlic

  • 2 kg shoulder of lamb

  • Olive oil

  • 1 tablespoon plain flour

  • 500 ml organic chicken or vegetable stock

  • 2 heaped tablespoons baby capers, rinsed and chopped

  • 1 big bunch of fresh mint, picked and finely chopped

  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

  • 500g seasonal greens, such as brussel sprouts or cavolo nero

Instructions

The Lamb Shoulder

  • Preheat your oven to it's hottest heat.

  • Lay half the rosemary into a roasting tray and scatter in half of the unpeeled garlic cloves.

  • Slash the fat side of the lamb all over with a sharp knife, then rub with oil, sea salt and black pepper. Place into the tray, then scatter the remaining rosemary and garlic on top.

  • Tightly cover the tray with foil and place in the oven. Turn the temperature down to 170°C and cook for around 4 hours – until the meat falls apart when nudged with a fork.

  • Remove the lamb from the oven and place it on a chopping board. Cover with tin foil, then a tea towel, and leave to rest.

The Sauce

  • Pour away most of the fat from the roasting tray, discarding any bits of rosemary stalk. Put the tray on the stove over a medium heat and mix in the flour.

  • Pour in the stock, stirring and scraping all the sticky bits from the bottom of the tray.

  • Add the capers, then turn the heat down and simmer for a few minutes.

  • Add the mint and red wine vinegar at the last minute, then pour into a jug.

Shred the lamb and place in the middle of the table, served with roast potatoes and seasonal greens.