Ever wonder what to do with the mutton you take home after a sheep hunt? Take the shoulder and roast it very slowly to make an amazing meal with little fuss.
Serve this juicy roast mutton with braised cabbage or carrots and garlic mashed potatoes. It’s awesome for a holiday dinner or a lazy Sunday afternoon. The slow cooking really helps break down the tough mutton shoulder to make it nice and tender.
Serves 4–6
Ingredients
1¼ cups salted butter, softened and diced
1 large bunch of oregano or rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped
8 salted anchovies
zest of 1 lemon
5½lb shoulder of mutton on the bone
8 shallots, peeled and halved lengthways
2 whole bulbs of garlic, peeled and halved
1 x 750ml bottle of red wine
freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 275ºF. Put the butter in a food processor. Add the herbs, reserving a little for later, and then the anchovies, lemon zest and black pepper. Whizz to a coarse paste – about 20 seconds will do it. If desired, add some of the garlic to this butter mixture.
Slather the paste all over the top of the mutton to a thickness of about ¼ inch. Put the shallots and garlic in a deep roasting tray and add any remaining herbs. Lay the mutton on top and pour in the wine over the shallots, garlic, and herbs under the mutton; the liquid should just be touching the bottom of the meat – if not, top up with water.
Seal the top of the roasting tray with a layer of baking parchment followed by foil. Place the tray in the oven for at least 6 hours (overnight at 200ºF), or until the mutton is cooked.
Remove the foil and baking parchment and turn the heat up to 400ºF to crisp up the crust for 20 minutes. While the mutton rests, strain the pan juices, discarding
the garlic and shallots, reduce a little in a saucepan, uncovered, over a medium heat, season and set aside to use as a gravy.
This recipe is modified from the recipe The Guardian posted in April of 2012.
