Slow-roast shoulder of lamb with anchovy & rosemary

Slow-roast shoulder of lamb with anchovy & rosemary

By James Martin
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(28 ratings)
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Prep: 10 mins Cook: 4 hrs

Easy

Serves 6
This generous dish of melt-in-the-mouth lamb feels extravagant, but is an inexpensive way to feed a crowd

Nutrition and extra info

Nutrition: per serving

  • kcal535
  • fat41g
  • saturates19g
  • carbs5g
  • sugars3g
  • fibre1g
  • protein37g
  • salt0.67g
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Ingredients

  • 4 rosemary sprigs, leaves removed
    Rosemary

    Rosemary

    rose-mar-ee

    Rosemary's intense, fragrant aroma has traditionally been paired with lamb, chicken and game…

  • 4 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 tbsp capers, finely chopped
    Capers

    Capers

    kay-per

    Capers are the small flower buds of the Capparis shrub, which grows in the Mediterranean. As…

  • 3 anchovy fillets in oil, drained and finely chopped
    Anchovy

    Anchovy

    ann-choe-vee

    Silver, slender salty little fish found mainly around the Black Sea and the Pacific and Atlantic…

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
    olive oil

    Olive oil

    ol-iv oyl

    Probably the most widely-used oil in cooking, olive oil is pressed from fresh olives. It's…

  • 2 whole lemons
    Lemon

    Lemon

    le-mon

    Oval in shape, with a pronouced bulge on one end, lemons are one of the most versatile fruits…

  • 1½ kg shoulder of lamb, on the bone
    Lamb

    Lamb

    laam

    A lamb is a sheep that is under one year old, and is known for its delicate flavour and tender…

  • 2 red onions, cut into wedges
  • small glass white wine

Method

  1. Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Finely chop the rosemary, then mix with the garlic, capers, anchovies, olive oil and zest and juice of 1 lemon, reserving the used lemon halves. Make 3-4 slashes across the top of the shoulder, then rub the rosemary mixture all over the lamb.

  2. Scatter the onion into the base of a large roasting tin, cut the remaining lemon in half, squeeze the juices into the tin, and place all the used lemon halves in the tin with the onions. Place the lamb on top and roast for 1 hr. Pour in the wine and roast for a further 3 hrs until the meat is really tender. Leave to rest for 15 mins then serve, pulled into chunks rather than carved, with any pan juices.

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Comments, questions and tips

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Tommytwoguns
25th Dec, 2015
Cooked for xmas dinner. Followed to the letter. Delicious, and my partners a VERY hard person to please with new flavours. Marinate in the mixture overnight, thats my tip. Added a little sweet chutney to the sauce and even my 7 year old loved it.
nickywoolner
13th Dec, 2015
0.05
also cooked this and it is really bitter, disappointed I've wasted 4 hours cooking something inedible for my family.
Conal
11th Nov, 2015
Great recipe. To take the bitterness from the juices, add a teaspoon of fruity jam, then make your gravy.
Pottage
23rd Sep, 2015
Delicious. I used 1 lemon, 1 kg good quality lamb shoulder and a small roasting tin. Followed instructions. Served with simple mashed swede to soak up the juices. Will definitely be making this often.
Uncompromiser
15th Jun, 2015
0.05
Absolutely dreadful recipe. He's clearly never tried it. Used new season west country shoulder (£20) and followed the recipe to the letter. Firstly, even at 140°c Fan the lamb burnt after 3 hours (ie an hour before the end). It looked nothing like the photo in the recipe which is a nice golden colour. Secondly, the sauce/gravy (which the recipe makes no mention of at the end of preparation - my suggestion would be to throw it away!)is disgusting. Sour lemon/wine taste that you could no more make gravy out of than you could out of coal tar soap. All in all - badly written, badly thought out and a complete waste of a (potentially) nice shoulder of spring lamb.
Kaaplaar
3rd Oct, 2015
0.05
Absolutely agree with you! This recipe just waste money and time! The meat completely dried off.
FoodAddicts
24th Mar, 2014
I used only 1 lemon and it tasted great Please fill out this survey for those who love food ,it only takes few minutes! Really appreciate it! https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WWQHDC6 Thanks
reichem
30th Jan, 2014
Based on other comments I only used about half a lemon but still found the juices slightly sour- not lemony and tangy but sour. I used a rose wine and kept adding to keep the juices from drying out and the meat was tender and tasty so I will definitely do this again but without the lemons.
bacon-n-egg
20th Jan, 2014
Using home raised lamb with plenty of fat. I used one lemon and a roughly chopped red onions. I sat the meat on top so the juices made the lemon and onions sticky and delicious (no burnt bits here) - I chopped this up and added to the meat when serving. Made a good gravy. Served with baked carrots, parnsips, green veg and potato dauphenois. A real hit!
claire_rowberry
10th Nov, 2013
I agree with the earlier comments - the 2 lemons left a very bitter and burnt flavour to the juices which we found extremely unpleasant - I had to discard all the juices and the onions as they were so sour tasting. Sounds like its worth another try, but with the lemons omitted.

Pages

hotpots
17th Feb, 2014
I hope to cook this meal in the next few days. My question is do you cover the joint with tinfoil when cooking?
goodfoodteam's picture
goodfoodteam
28th Feb, 2014
Hi there, thanks for getting in touch. No, there is no need to cover the lamb first
Sir Timothy
30th Apr, 2014
Maybe I'd only use one lemon in future, but because it tasted far too lemony, I melted in some redcurrant jelly. I'm not sure what I did differently because there was loads of sauce and once the fat had been separated off, it was completely delicious - so much so that one of our guests asked for bread and poured the left over gravy on to it! The gravy/sauce was still lemony and tangy, but not overpoweringly so and the recurrant jelly softened it. New potatoes and an orange/chicory salad accompanied it. My husband had bought very much reduced shoulder which had been boned and rolled, - it made for much easier carving and four hungry people gobbled up 1 1/2 kgs of it! I cooked it on a very low gas, covered with foil for 4 hours.