You freeze the stuffing here before rolling up with the the lamb and tying with string – genius! Pretty much a one pot-dish then and you can easily get your beans ready in advance and re-heat with the garlic to serve.
Wine Suggestion: The combination of lamb, nuts and mushrooms lends itself to a good old-vine northern Rhône Syrah like Domain Coursodon’s Olivaie, a St Joseph from one of the best vineyards in this appellation. We opened one 5 years old and it had come together nicely with a rich and velvety texture, hints of plum, raspberries and olives on the nose and a charming length and balance.
Lamb shoulder with potatoes and garlicky green beans – serves 4 with leftovers
- 1.5kg boneless lamb shoulder
- 1½ tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
FOR THE STUFFING:
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 shallots, finely chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 300g button mushrooms
- 100g baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 3 tbsp skinned hazelnuts
- 3 tbsp pistachios (plus some extra chopped to serve)
- 1½ tbsp finely chopped parsley
- 1½ tsp finely chopped rosemary
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
FOR THE POTATOES:
- 1kg baby potatoes, halved or quartered if large
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
FOR THE GRAVY:
- 2 tbsp flour
- 375ml beef stock
- ¼ tsp dark soy sauce
FOR THE GREEN BEANS:
- 500 green beans, trimmed
- 2 tsp fine sea salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
You need to make the stuffing first and it can be done well in advance and needs to go in the freezer for at least 3 hours.
Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan, then roast the hazelnuts for 8 minutes. Leave them to cool, then roughly chop.
Put the mushrooms in a food processor and whizz until finely chopped.
Melt the butter in a frying pan over a high heat. Add the shallots, garlic and mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes or until any liquid produced by the mushrooms has gone. Add the spinach and stir until just wilted.
Transfer the mushroom mixture to a bowl and allow to cool for 20 minutes, then stir in the remaining stuffing ingredients and season with salt and pepper.
Pile the stuffing onto a piece of cling film, then shape into a long log (about the length of a 30cm ruler). Roll up tightly with the cling film then put into the freezer for at least 3 hours (this can be done a couple of days in advance).
Take your lamb shoulder and place fat-side down . Cover with cling film and use a rolling pin to pound it into a rectangle (roughly 40cm x 22cm) and try to make it as even thickness as possible.
Sprinkle the lamb with salt and pepper, then unwrap the frozen stuffing and roll it up tightly with the lamb, finishing with the seam down.
Secure the lamb with kitchen string every 2cm (ours looked pretty terrible at this point but don’t fear, it will look perfect when cut out at the end).
Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan.
Rub the lamb roll with the olive oil and sprinkle over some salt and pepper.
Toss the potatoe with salt, pepper, and olive oil in a large roasting pan, then place the stuffed lamb on top.
Roast for 30 minutes, then turn the heat down to 160C/140C fan and cook for 2½ hours, or until the meat can be pulled apart easily with a fork.
When the lamb is close to ready, cook the beans. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil with 1 tsp of salt. Add the beans and cook for 4 minutes, then drain and rinse under the cold tap and drain well.
Remove the lamb and potatoes and loosely cover with foil, while you make the gravy.
Discard all but 3 tbsp of the fat from the pan, you can add a bit of butter if there isn’t enough fat.
Put the roasting tin on the hob over a medium heat. When the fat is hot, stir in the flour for 1 minute.
Keep stirring while you slowly add the stock. Add the soy sauce and stir continuously until it thickens to a gravy-like consistency. Taste and season to taste.
Finish your green beans by heating the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the green beans and garlic and stir for 2 minutes until the garlic is cooked and the beans warmed through. Season with salt and pepper.
Remove the string from the lamb and cut into thick slices.
Serve the lamb on a platter with the gravy, potatoes and garlicky green beans.
(Original recipe from recipetineats)
Jono & Jules do food & wine 