This is one of those recipes that requires long cooking time with minimal effort. Lamb shoulder is a secondary cut and needs long slow cooking. It has more flavour than the leg, and once given the time it needs in the oven you will be rewarded with the most tender, sticky, melt in your mouth roast you have ever tasted.
What I love about this dish is that I can put it on to cook in the morning, take the kids to school and get on with my day. The house is filled with that heady smell of spices and meat, and by the time we sit down to eat it for dinner the whole family is salivating. All you need to accompany it is your favourite roast vegetables, or a salad. Shred the meat and use it to fill pita, or fresh bread rolls.
My favourite roast lamb. I am sure it will soon become one of yours.
- 1 tblspn ground cumin seed
- 1 tblspn dried oregano
- 1 tblspn salt
- 1 tspn smoked paprika
- 1 tspn dried parsley
- 1/2 tspn ground black pepper
- 1 clove garlic, very finely chopped
- 2kg shoulder of lamb
- Olive oil
- Mix all the spices and garlic together in a small bowl.
- Cut fine shallow slashes over the fat side of the shoulder.
- Drizzle the lamb all over with olive oil.
- Rub the spice mix all over both sides of the lamb.
- Cover and leave to marinade overnight, or at least 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 110 degrees Celsius.
- Put an oven rack into a deep roasting pan. Pour in 1/2 cup of water. Place lamb on the rack and place in the oven.
- Roast for up to 10 hours, basting with its juices every now and then.
- Serve
- Note : to reduce the cooking time a little, increase the temperature by 10 degrees. Don’t increase it more than that as the reason why this lamb is so succulent is the long slow cooking process.
- Devour and enjoy.
Hey,
I have made this recipe before and love it however I am looking to double the quantity and roast two shoulders in one pan. Would you amend the cooking time at all?
Hi Louisa
It shouldn’t make much difference to the time, maybe add 15 – 30 minutes cooking time. Check it at the time specified on the recipe and then go from there.
Good luck!
Hi Liliana
I am keen to give this recipe a crack, just want to confirm that the lamb is cooked uncovered for 10 hours?
Emily
Hi Emily
Sorry I didn’t see your post earlier. In my oven I don’t cover it, BUT keep an eye on it and if it looks like its getting a little dark or dry up can cover it with foil. Then uncover at the end so the exterior gets crispy. Unfortunately some ovens are actually hotter than they say they are, so use the 10 hours as a guide, check after 6 hours – if it’s pulling away from the bone it is ready. Good luck!
Hi Liliana, great recipe thank you. Just wondering if the oven cooking temp is fan forced or not ?
Thank you for your help.
Robyn
Hi Robyn
If you have a fan forced oven reduce the temp by 20 degrees. Cheers!
I’m pinning and making!Love this recipe.easy and simple .i will definitely try it. One of our families favorite dinners! So easy and it tastes delicious! Thanks for a great recipe!
Hi
You’re welcome. One of our family favourites!
Hi Liliana, if I don’t have a rack for my roasting pan will it matter?
Hi Dominique, sorry I am a bit late with my response. No, you can just sit it on top of baking paper, or what I sometimes do is slice through whole unpeeled onions and create a platform on the bottom of the pan with them and sit the lamb on top. The bonus is the onions cook in their skins and absorb all the lamb flavour so make a great treat on the side. Good luck!
I’m trying a leg of lamb in my pizza oven overnight for the 1st time. Had pizzas 4 tea Let’s see what happens. 4 hrs in and it’s 124•C
I currently have a 4 pound bone in lamb shoulder in a 150 degree Fahrenheit oven. The shoulder is on a rack and is uncovered. It is rubbed inside and outside with olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice rosemary, anchovies. It will bake for 14 hours. finished internal temperature will be 145 degrees. Any comments appreciated.
Hi John
Sounds like it is going to be delicious. That’s a very low oven, so perfect for cooking so long. How did it turn out? The addition of anchovies sounds very umami.