“This is a recipe we have at Tom’s Kitchen – a seven hour shoulder of lamb cooked with balsamic vinegar and onions. It’s delicious and easy plus one-pot cooking means less to clear up!” Tom Aikens
SLOW ROAST SHOULDER OF LAMB WITH ONIONS, THYME AND BALSAMIC VINEGAR (Serves 6)
INGREDIENTS
1 shoulder lamb (weighing 2.5 kilos)
1 bunch of thyme
8 whole medium sized onions, peeled
2 garlic bulbs, peeled cloves
250ml balsamic vinegar
2g Maldon sea salt
150ml olive oil
EQUIPMENT
1 large casserole pot with lid (big enough to fit the shoulder of lamb)
Tray
“Depending on when you are going to be eating this dish, either lunch or dinner, you want to put it into the oven ‘a meal before’. So for lunch time you want to put it into the oven at 8am and for the evening I would put it in at around 2pm. It will take between 6-7 hours to cook but it is one of those dishes that does not need any attention at all.”
METHOD
Oven at 180°C.
1. You can marinate the lamb leg for a day in the olive oil, with 6-8 sprigs of thyme and some extra thinly sliced garlic.
2. Before you cook the lamb take the lamb out of the fridge for a good hour if not two so the meat is at room temperature.
3. If you have marinated the leg, remove the thyme and garlic then season with all of the salt and some fresh black pepper. If not, rub in the olive oil and then season with salt and pepper.
4. Place a little olive oil into the bottom of the casserole pot, which is at room temperature.
5. Place in the onions, drizzle in a little olive oil and a little seasoning as well, place the lamb on top of the onions.
6. Place the casserole into the oven at 180˚C for 15-20 minutes, until the lamb and onions have coloured.
7. After this, turn the oven down to 110˚C. Add the thyme and garlic and cook this for 1.5 hours – with a lid on. During this time, stir the onions every 20-30 mins.
8. After this time, the onions and garlic should be soft, remove them from the pot and place on to a tray. Place the lid back on to the pot and continue to cook for a further 4.5 hours with the lid on, checking every so often.
9. Remove the pot from the oven, remove the lid and add 250ml of balsamic vinegar. Turn the oven up to 150°C and cook for a further hour, basting the lamb every 15 minutes.
10. The lamb by now should be nice and tender, remove the lamb from the pot and place on to a tray. Add the onions back into the pot and place them on to a medium heat and reduce until sticky.
11. The lamb should just fall off the bone so I generally use a spoon as opposed to a knife. If you need a knife, then the lamb is not cooked enough. Serve with mashed potato.
