Meat mains
Shoulder of lamb with braised lentils
Although not offering as high a ratio of lean meat as leg, shoulder has more flavour and benefits from slower cooking. This makes a lovely Easter meal accompanied by a big green salad with lots of rocket. Lentils are amazingly lamb friendly – try reheating them the next day with leftover scraps of lamb and a sausage or two to get even more out of this recipe.
Ingredients
for the roast
- 1kg joint lamb shoulder
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cumin seed
- 1 tsp dried mint
- 2 tbsp olive oil
for the lentils
- 4 streaky bacon rashers, finely chopped
- 1 each onion, celery stick and carrot, finely chopped
- 400g dark green lentils, soaked for 1 hr
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- veg stock (double the volume of soaked lentils)
- salt and pepper
Method
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Step 1
Preheat oven to 160°C/Gas 3.
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Step 2
Trim the lamb of excess fat and score it with a sharp knife.
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Step 3
Crush the garlic, salt, cumin seed and mint in a pestle and mortar. Mix with the olive oil and smear over the lamb. Leave for an hour at room temperature.
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Step 4
Place the lamb on a rack in a roasting tray. Roast for 2 hours, turning a couple of times.
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Step 5
Meanwhile, fry the bacon, onion, celery and carrot in the olive oil until soft, then add the lentils and stir for 1-2 minutes.
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Step 6
Cover with hot stock, season, and gently cook until the lentils are tender (about 30 minutes).
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Step 7
Serve the lentils with pieces of roast lamb on top.
