6 hour Roasted Lamb Shoulder
All Australian lamb is free range. It is sweet and succulent having fed on grass or salt bush. Braised, roasted, grilled and barbequed, as curries, souvlakis, soup and pies, lamb is a big favourite in our house.
Cooler weather is the catalyst for a slow roast of lamb shoulder, an opportunity to warm the kitchen and fill the house with the aroma of a much anticipated dinner. I wish I could include in this post just a hit of the delicious smell of the slow roasting lamb coming from my kitchen yesterday. Dinnertime couldn’t come quickly enough for me.
I studded my lamb with rosemary and garlic before baking it, then I dressed the cooked meat generously with an oil free mix of lemon juice and zest, pitted green olives and currants. The bitterness of grilled radicchio, the acidity of the lemon and the sweet and salty combination of the dressing ingredients balanced the richness of the unctuous slow roasted lamb to perfection.
Because it’s a fatty cut slow roasting a whole lamb shoulder has a few traps, I’ve fallen into them all. Here are my tips for success.
- Serve slow roasted lamb shoulder warm or hot.
- Roast the lamb shoulder for a long period to render the internal fat.
- Put the joint on a wire rack in the baking pan to keep it above the rendered fat and prevent reabsorption.
- Use a covered roasting pan or cover loosely with a few layers of aluminium foil help keep the cut moist
- Avoid using the oven in fan forced mode. Lamb shoulder needs to cook gently.
- Pull the cooked meat apart and lay it on paper towel to collect any residual rendered fat,
- Remove any visible fat and membranes from the cooked meat before serving.
- If reheating the lamb in the oven, lay it on a bed of paper towels to collect the melted fat.
To serve 4
A full lamb shoulder bone in
2 large sprigs of rosemary
2 cloves of garlic
Remove the lamb shoulder from the fridge an hour before you intend to begin cooking.
Use a pointed paring knife to make small slits about 3cm apart over the upper surface of the lamb. Poke a small sprig of rosemary and a sliver of garlic into each slit.
Preheat the oven to 150C, bottom element only, not fan forced if possible.
Put the lamb on a wire rack in a covered roasting pan. Add 1 cup of water to the pan.
Roast the lamb for 2 1/2 hours at 150C, then reduce the heat to 120C and continue roasting for a further 3 1/2 hours. The house will fill with the most delicious aroma!
Remove the lamb from the oven, then pull it apart into large chunks. Discard all the bones, fat and connective tissue. Set the meat aside on a paper towel lined tray in a warm place.
Dressing:
1/2 cup pitted green Sicilian olives
2 tablespoons currants
Zest of 2 lemons cut into fine julienne
Lemon juice, 3 tablespoons
2 tablespoons of honey or maple syrup
1 teaspoon sea salt flakes
Generous grinding of fresh black pepper
Combine the lemon juice, honey and salt and pepper.
Arrange the lamb on a serving platter scatter over the olives, lemon zest and currants, then sprinkle the dressing over the meat.
Serve with grilled radicchio.
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33 comments on “6 hour Roasted Lamb Shoulder”
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Please Pass the Recipe by Sandra Gay is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Please Pass the Recipe 
So homesick right now for a good old fashioned Aussie lamb roast!! Let alone the sounds of this one with it’s slow cooked goodness, meat falling off the bone and then dressed in that wonderful dressing. Divine!
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Good to hear from you Andrea, roast lamb must be every Anglo Aussie’s comfort food!
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Oh my goodness.. You are a temptress with this beautiful lamb!! That dressing is the kind that makes me keep taking that “just one more bite” knowing how full I am, and knowing that I’m going to be very uncomfortable..but not caring one bit! Wonderful post… Printing as I’m typing!! ❤
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Thanks Prudy, enjoy….
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Looks very nice, Sandra. I think your lamb maybe older or fatter than ours, as I don’t have issues with fattiness. I really like the flavors you’ve used and will probably try to do a sous-vide version 🙂
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The shoulder is generally a fattier cut than the rest of the lamb, but here it can’t be called lamb if it’s older than 12months. Hope you are able to achieve the same result sous vide because it’s delicious!
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Oh, how fabulous that lamb looks, pulled apart and succulent! Beautiful Sandra. Almost makes me wish it was cold here. Almost!!
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Oh Lidia, enjoy the summer. there is plenty of time to enjoy slow roasted lamb in the cold months
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One of those recipe/cooking that only a gourmet cook attempts and makes such a masterpiece. I love the photography and the presentation. Ah! 😛
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Oh you flatter me..
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That roast looks gorgeous, although it’s not tempting me right now since is blazing summer and horrible humidity here. Fabulous tips, though. I’m printing this!
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Definitely a lazy winter stay at home sort of roast. Keep cool..
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Slow cooked deliciousness, love, love the dressing.
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Absolutely delicious, thanks…
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Absolutely love lamb and have always preferred the shoulder!! However, have never cooked it as long or covered!!! Excitement ahead!!!!! Also have never made a dressing quite like this and am dying to try!!!!!! Methinks this will have to be reposted after work tomorrow . . . 🙂 !
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I hope you do decide to try slow roasting a lamb shoulder. I’d love to hear how it goes…
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Have just reposted to quite a few of my lists. The email on your blog ‘came back’ as unanswered, so, in all fairness, thought you should know!! Am getting a shoulder in next week’s shop . . .can’t wait 🙂 !
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I did reply! Glad you’re going to try slow roasting the lamb shoulder. Do you have a web address. I only get your name when you comment. I’ll resend my initial response…
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I love slow roasted lamb, and the shoulder has so much more flavour than a leg (plus less expensive!) Your sauce looks superb – sweet and sour, perfect for lamb.
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Definitely not the style of roast to serve with baked potatoes and pumpkin
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Meat looks so juicy and tender. Wonderful..;)
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Thank you
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Nice to know all Australian lamb is free range. I have just started cooking lamb two years ago and haven’t even thought of roasting a lamb shoulder! But oh my! It looks fantastic and by your description of the aromas I would really like to give it a go. Appreciate your tips!
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Lamb shoulder is an economical cut as it tends to be fatty so you need to treat it with respect for the best result. This is the only roast I cook where I check my notes before I start, the result is really worth the extra care this method needs. One lazy Sunday in winter, try it out….
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Oh this is just incredible! Lamb is simply my favorite meat… Thanks for the great tips!
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It’s a pleasure. There are so many traps when roasting a secondary cut, hopefully my tips might save someone from falling in
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Wow this looks incredibly divine! We have lots of lamb here over the ditch in NZ as well, I might have to try this!
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It’s the absolute best method I’ve ever used for roasting lamb shoulder, but the devil is in the detail
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I always automatically turn the fan on – I should remember to give it a rest sometimes. The dressing sounds like it would cut through the fattiness really well.
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You’re right Nancy, this dressing is fantastic for cutting through the potential fattiness of the lamb, although after roasting for 6 hours the fat has pretty much rendered
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Great tips. I grew up in Australia’s wheat-sheep belt, and you had a couple I hadn’t heard of before.
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I’ve had some disasters roasting lamb shoulder, too fatty and too dry being the main complaints. This formula works perfectly
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My main sin was to get sidetracked (usually when people come late for dinner) and end up with something dry from cooking far longer than intended. I also learned to cook in a gas oven, which is not as dry as an electric one.
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