Slow Cooked Lamb With Garlic, Rosemary and Vermouth

Method

one. Preheat the oven to 160ºc.

two. Heat the olive oil in a solid roasting tin on the hob over a medium heat. Season the lamb generously all over, then put in the tin and let it brown for 10-15minutes, turning occasionally, until the meat is well-coloured all over. Remove and keep to one side.

three. Tip of the oil, then pour in the vermouth and scrape up any flavourful brown bits from the bottom of the tin. Scatter half the garlic cloves and herbs over the bottom of the tin, then place the lamb on top, skin-side up and strew with the remaining garlic and herbs.

four. Cover the tin with a double thickness of foil, sealing the lamb as hermetically as you can. Place the tin in the oven and cook for about 5 hours, carefully peeling back the foil to baste the meat a couple of times. When the meat is done it should be so soft you can almost lift it off the bone. Check it at 4.5 hours and be prepared to give it 5.5 if necessary. Feel free to add a bit more vermouth or even loosen with a bit of water, if you feel it is drying out.

five. Lift the meat from the pan and keep warm under a loose tent of foil, Tip most of the fat from the pan, leaving behind the dark savoury juices. Scoop the garlic cloves and herbs into a metal sieve and use the back of a ladle to push the soft, aromatic flesh of the garlic back into the pan. scraping any pulp from, the bottom of the sieve as you go. You should be left with mostly garlic skins in the sieve. Stir the garlic into the sauce, adding a squeeze of lemon juice to taste, and reheat gently. Serve with generous chunks torn from the shoulder of lamb.