Easy Easter Roast: Rolled Lamb Shoulder

Lamb shoulder has quickly become one of my favorite ingredients.  If you love the flavor of lamb but don’t want to shell out the bucks for rack of lamb (too fussy) or lamb shanks, lamb shoulder is actually a very economical and much more versatile choice.  I have been seeing it more and more on neighborhood restaurant menus as trends seem to be moving toward high quality, yet less expensive cuts of meat.  A couple months ago, I brought in some free range Australian lamb shoulder to play with, and have been obsessed with using it ever since.

The easiest thing to do is just wrap the shoulder in aluminum foil and roast it really slowly until it is super tender.  If you can get it deboned by your butcher, then open it up and sprinkle the inside with salt, pepper, herbs and aromatics.  Here I used a generous amount of chopped parsley, a little chopped rosemary, minced garlic, thyme and grated lemon zest.   Roll up the shoulder and tie it into a log.  Generously season the outside with salt and pepper, then wrap it tightly with aluminum foil.  Put the whole thing into a baking dish and pop it in the oven.  You can leave it overnight for 6-8 hours at 275 degrees.  Alternatively you can bake it at 325-350 degrees, which should take only about 4-5 hours.

Once the roast is ready, be sure to let it rest at least a half hour.  In the meantime you can make a nice pan sauce from the drippings, then serve the roast warm with a fresh cucumber and tomato salad, or with some hearty grain like farro.  Leftovers can be sliced thin and served cold as lambwiches or with a simple green salad, some nice tangy sheeps milk feta, lemon, and good olive oil.