Have a cup of sugary tea

I’ve never really eaten lamb much, or even cooked it and I think that comes from my childhood in 1970’s England. Each week we would alternate the Sunday roast between chicken and beef. Come to think of it, it may have had nothing to do with England, but more my mum and her, um, unsual approach to food such boiling vegetables until they no longer look like vegetables.

This lamb dish is not only easy, it has the wow factor and I have pulled it off a couple of times now in front of friends who treated me as a food genius after trying it.

It’s quick, looks great and can easily be adapted to make more - just buy a bigger hunk of it and leave it in the oven for an extra 30 minutes or so.

Slow-cooked lamb shoulder with roast vegetables

Serves 4

1.5 kg lamb shoulder

1 glass red wine

500 ml chicken stock

1 punnet mini-truss tomatoes

Roast vegetables

1 head garlic, halved

2 red onions, quartered

4 potatoes, peeled and quartered

4 zucchini, chopped

1 eggplant, roughly chopped

Some fresh thyme sprigs

2 lemons, juice only

Season lamb shoulder with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large pan over high heat and cook lamb for 5 minutes, turning once, until browned. Transfer to a large roasting tin. Meanwhile, deglaze pan with red wine and stock then pour over lamb in roasting tin. Cook in a preheated oven at 220C for 20 minutes then reduce heat to 160C and cook for 3-4 hours until tender, basting occasionally and adding the truss tomatoes during the last 30 minutes of cooking.

For roast vegetables, combine ingredients in a bowl with remaining olive oil and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place in another roasting tin and pour 1 cup water over. Roast in the oven for the last 2 hours while lamb shoulder is cooking. Serve lamb with truss tomatoes and roast vegetables on platters or plates.

Source: Gourmet Traveller April/May 2009