Roast Lamb Shoulder

I’ve never cooked Lamb Shoulder before; never even seen it in the supermarket in Australia, but Lamb is pretty hard to find here in Mexico, so whenever I see it, in any form, I grab it. In fact the Lamb Shoulder is similar to a Leg of Lamb and can be cooked in similar ways - roasted, slow-cooked, braised, to name a few.

I chose a very simple recipe to roast my lamb shoulder, because I have a killer gravy to go with it - one of my Nanna´s signature dishes - Tomato and Mint Gravy. I served it with roast potatoes, broccoli (because my kids are mad for “little trees”) and roasted capsicum (because my husband and I love capsicum in any shape or form).

Simple Roast Lamb Shoulder

1 lamb shoulder (mine was about 1.8kg)
potatoes, peeled and quartered
oregano, basil or any other herb of your choice
2 cloves of crushed or sliced garlic
olive oil
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Put lamb shoulder in a baking dish and smear olive oil and garlic over it. Arrange the potatoes around the lamb (and capsicums or any other baked veggies you are having). Season and sprinkle with whatever herbs you are using.

Roast for about 1 hour 15 minutes, or to your liking. About 20 minutes in, baste with some of the Tomato and Mint Gravy.

Allow the lamb to rest for 10 minutes before carving and serving with a jug of the gravy on the side.

A word of warning - this is a very tasty cut of lamb, but it it not the easiest to carve. If you´re looking for beautiful clean slices, then you are better off sticking with a leg. This is more suited to the “chunks” method of carving! Alternatively you could ask the butcher to bone the shoulder for you, in which case reduce the cooking time.