By Darren Robertson and Mark Lebrooy
This is a great, warming dish to serve to the family. Most of the hard work needs to be
done the day before, or put on first thing in the morning so it’s ready when you get
home. The meat is fall-apart tender with a rich, sticky glaze.
Serves 4
Ingredients
4 tbsp olive oil
1 large lamb shoulder on the bone
Salt and pepper
1 brown onion, diced
1⁄2 bulb garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
2 long red chillies, deseeded and roughly chopped
3 tbsp tomato paste
2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
1⁄2 bunch rosemary, roughly chopped
1⁄2 bunch thyme, roughly chopped
2L quality vegetable stock
300ml red wine
Method
Put a large skillet on a high heat. Rub the lamb shoulder with olive oil and season, sear
it in the pan on all sides then put in a braising dish.
Put the skillet back on a medium heat, add remaining olive oil, onion, garlic and chilli
and cook until soft and slightly caramelised.
Add a tablespoon of tomato paste, stirring constantly, for 3-5 minutes, and heat the
oven to 105°C.
Add the celery and herbs, cook for another two minutes, deglaze the skillet with a little
vegetable stock and pour over the lamb.
Add the rest of the stock to the dish, season lamb well, cover with a lid or foil and cook
in the oven for 8-10 hours. Remove from oven, strain off the liquid and reserve.
For the glaze: put a wide saucepan on a high heat, add remaining tomato paste and the
red wine and reduce for 2-3 minutes, then add the braising liquid and keep reducing the
mixture to a slightly thicker glaze (it should be about a fifth of the original amount).
Tip: Use a wide saucepan when reducing the glaze as the liquid evaporates faster.
Turn the oven up to 200°C, brush glaze over the lamb and put in the oven.
Take it out and reglaze it every five minutes for 30 minutes – a dark layer will start to form on top of the lamb.
To serve, put the lamb on a platter with the leftover glaze and take it to the table.
Serve with shaved squash, zucchini, pea and mint salad.