I have been cooking roast lamb today: the smell currently is filling my house. I have also been busying mysef preparing lunches for the week, making a large bowl of pasta salad to add bits and bobs to during the week, making cup cakes, making scotch eggs and filling bagels. Its a Sunday ritual to prepare us for the busy week ahead (recently our weeks have been busier than usual!).
I will post a few product reviews soon, as I have been trying new things out this last couple of weeks. I have very sensitive skin so I like to see how products suit me after being used day in day out for about a month. But for now I will leave you with a recipe for something tasty!
Spring must be on the way!! Its actually autumn lamb that I am roasting - but doing it on a day wth daffs around makes it feel springy (must sort out my garden soon!)
I grew up with lamb the italian way - roasted in massive slabs smeared in aromatics until it falls apart, served with green veg or slow cooked mushrooms. I can't claim to have invented this way of roasting lamb (its a classic) but this is my take. I also personally profess quite a strong dislike to two of the main ingredients (lol) I could never eat a whole anchovy and find rosemary cloying. But these are powerful ingredients and the perfect foil for sweet lamb, lending saltiness and earthiness, not tasting strong or fishy at all. If you really hated anchovy and can't bring yourself to try it - then you could use capers or simply omit them (but add a pinch more salt to the mix).
This is also a great way to enjoy a roast lamb without the cost of buying a leg. I love leg of lamb roasted and served pink but it is fearfully expensive. Shoulder is a much cheaper cut - but not great for serving pink - it benefits from a long slow sizzle. For the two of us I use a half of shoulder (blade end today) and it will do us two meals each (and we are greedy!) for a joint of meat that cost £6.99 how can you complain?
I have been cooking this lamb today, the smell currently is filling my house. I have also been busying mysef preparing lunches for the week, making a large bowl of pasta salad to add bits and bobs to during the week, making cup cakes, making scotch eggs and filling bagels. Its a Sunday ritual to prepare us for the busy week ahead (recently our weeks have been busier than usual!).
I will post a few product reviews soon, as I have been trying new things out this last couple of weeks. I have very sensitive skin so I like to see how products suit me after being used day in day out for about a month. But for now I will leave you with a recipe for something tasty!
For the paste:
6 cloves of garlic
2 anchovy fillets (I get the ones in oil rather than salt)
10 peppercorns
handful of rosemary leaves
zest and juice of one lemon
handful of parsley
Lamb shouder
rosemary sprigs to stud the lamb with
olive oil
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
I use a pestle and mortar to bash the paste ingredients together but a food processor would do fine. You want a gloopy, smearble paste.
Poke holes about 1 cm deep about an inch apart all over both surfaces of the lamb (I do the bottomfirst then flip it)
Smear the paste all over the surafce of the lamb, getting into the holes you have poked, and any natural folds or creases in the meat.
On the skin side push in some extra paste with the rosemary sprigs so the surfaces of the lamb has rosemary sticking out of it (these springs will go brown when cooked - do not worry when rosemary crisps up it tastes delicious and sweet!)
Drizzle over some olive oil (I do about a tablespoon)
Then sizzle in the oven for 30 mins, then turn down the oven to about 130 and cook for up to 4 hours until the meat is tender and falling off the bone.
Yum Yum!!
