RECIPE: Slow cooked shoulder of roast lamb with wild garlic pesto

Tried and tested seasonal recipes from our country cookery school kitchen.  As well as hacks and get ahead tips for EVERY cook. 

Treat everyone to a delicious roast for Easter Sunday.  Capture the very best seasonal produce with this easy recipe.  This dish requires little prep from you and will taste all the better for long, slow cooking.  Perfect for spending time with family and friends this Bank Holiday.

Total 6 hours 30 mins

To Serve:

• 50 g wild garlic leaves
• 50 g flat leaf parsley or rocket
• 50 g grated parmesan
• 25 g pine nuts or cashews
• olive oil and fresh lemon juice
• fresh ground black pepper & sea salt 

Method

Preheat conventional oven to 225 C or Gas Mark

Place the larger leaves of wild garlic into the base of a roasting tin.

Strip the remaining leaves from their stems and wash carefully.

Lay the lamb on top of the wild garlic and make deep incisions into the skin.  These should be large enough to insert an anchovy in each cut.

Drizzle the olive oil (or reserved anchovy oil) over the lamb skin.  Rub in well.  Season with freshly ground sea salt and pepper.  Pour wine into roasting tin. 

How to cook

For conventional ovens cover with foil and roast for 15 minutes.  Reduce the temperature to 165 C and continue to cook for another 4 1/2 hours.

Remove lamb from the roasting tin and place on a warm baking tray. Cover with foil and rest.

Discard the garlic leaves from roasting tin.

Strain the juices into a jug, let these settle in a cool place and then skim off the fat which will rise to the surface.

Once the lamb has rested, pull the meat off the bone using a couple of forks.  Pile on to a warm serving plate and pour warmed juices over.

Serve with pesto sauce and new potatoes.

To cook in the AGA

Slide the grid shelf on to the third runner of the AGA roasting oven and cook the lamb for 30 minutes so that the skin is crisp and golden.  Then transfer to the AGA simmering oven and continue cooking for 4 – 6 hours until the meat is soft and succulent and will come apart with a fork.

To make the wild garlic pesto

Wash wild garlic and parsley (or rocket) and dry.  Grate parmesan cheese and toast pine nuts or cashews in a dry frying pan.  Take care not to burn, as they catch quickly.

Roughly chop the herbs.  Add these to the bowl of a food processor with the cheese and nuts.

Blitz to combine and then drizzle enough olive oil to make a smooth pesto sauce.

Taste and season with black pepper and a squeeze of lemon.

Press the mixture into a sterilised jar so that there is no trapped air and then cover the surface with a layer of olive oil to stop the sauce from oxidising and causing it to discolour.

Alternatively for a more authentic sauce grind the herbs, toasted nuts and cheese together in a pestle and mortar.