Rosemary & garlic lamb shoulder or leg roast roast

Rosemary & garlic lamb shoulder roast with potatoes & gravy

Lamb shoulder or leg, combined with rosemary & garlic is a classic flavour combination to be celebrated. This is a sit at the dinner table meal to be savoured, leftovers can be frozen to the delight of the person who gets to defrost and eat later. While you might not raise lambs at home it's certainly handy to have a pot of plant of rosemary—it will flourish when it's taken care of and copes very well with neglect as well. You could slow this recipe down further by dropping the temperature to 120c or cook as described below. 

Roast

1 Ethical Farmers lamb shoulder or leg

A couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary plus 2 tbs of fresh rosemary chopped fine

2 heads garlic, cut in half

1 ½ cups filtered water  

Salt & pepper to taste 

1 kg King Edward potatos halved 

2 tbs beef tallow, pork lard or or lamb fat 

Gravy

2 tbs unbleached white flour 

2 cups beef or chicken stock 

Method

1. Take the lamb shoulder/leg out of the fridge 30min-1hr before cooking to bring to room temperature and season with salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 160c.
2. Place garlic on the bottom of the baking tray with rosemary sprigs, then place the lamb on top with 1 ½ cups of filtered water. 
3. Cover the lamb with a lid or aluminium foil and cook in the oven for 3 ½ hrs or until lamb pulls easily off the bone. If the lamb is not ready keep cooking and check every 15 minutes. 
4. When ready, take the lamb out of the oven, remove the garlic and rosemary sprigs, saving the garlic in a bowl. 
5. Put the lamb back in the oven without the lid, increase the temperature to 180c and cook for a further 30-45min.
6. For the reminder of the cooking time put the potatoes and tallow/lard or lamb fat in a baking dish in the oven and cook for 45-60 min or until golden brown.
7. Mash the roasted garlic (squeeze out of skin) and combine with fresh chopped rosemary and set aside.
8. Once the lamb has finished cooking, remove from the pan and set aside on a plate or dish with foil or a lid to keep warm while it rests. 
9. To make the gravy, place 2 tbs of flour in the roasting pan (lamb has been removed) and sit the pan on your stove top at low-medium heat. Add the roast garlic and rosemary and stir though. Cook for 2-3 min then add the stock. Keep stirring until the gravy thickens, about 3-5 min. 
10. Pull the meat from your shoulder and the potatoes will be ready by the time you are done! Serve with a side of steamed greens and fresh herbs to garnish.