Lamb Shoulder with Mint Sauce

Winter is here and the cold makes me long for comfort food such as this lovely slow roasted Lamb Shoulder by Jamie Oliver. I have made this twice and both times its a big hit with the family.

Ingredients

For the lamb:

• 1 (2.2-pound) shoulder of lamb
• Olive oil
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large bunch fresh rosemary
• 1 bulb garlic, unpeeled, broken into cloves

For the sauce:

• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 2 cups good-quality hot chicken or vegetable stock
• 2 heaped tablespoons capers, soaked, drained and chopped
• 1 large bunch fresh mint, leaves picked
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

For the lamb:

Directions

Preheat your oven to 450 to 500 degrees F.

Slash the fat side of the lamb all over with a sharp knife. Lay half the sprigs of rosemary and half the garlic cloves on the bottom of a high-sided roasting pan, rub the lamb all over with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place it in the pan on top of the rosemary and garlic, and put the rest of the rosemary and garlic on top of the lamb. Tightly cover the tray with aluminum foil and place in the oven. Turn the oven down immediately to 325 degrees F and cook for 4 hours - it's done if you can pull the meat apart easily with 2 forks.

To make the sauce

Remove the lamb from the oven and place it on a chopping board. Cover it with foil, then a kitchen towel, and leave it to rest. Pour away most of the fat from the roasting pan, discarding any bits of rosemary. Put the pan on the stovetop over medium heat and mix in the flour. Add stock, stirring and scraping all the sticky goodness off the bottom of the pan. Add the capers, turn the heat down and simmer for a few minutes.

Finely chop the mint and add it to the sauce with the vinegar at the last minute then pour into a pitcher. Place everything in the middle of the table, and slice the lamb in front of your guests. Absolutely delish!