Lamb Shoulder Casserole

For all the bad things said and written about supermarkets the one thing our local does well is reduce meat. On a Friday evening we managed to grab a haul of lamb shoulder, lamb chops, lamb casserole pieces, lincolnshire sausages and goosnargh duck breast for about 60p for each meat. Bargain! Really, eight premium sausages for 50p, you're practically stealing. Large haul of meat in tow Egbert and I set about deciding what to freeze and how on earth we were going to cook the things we bought. So for tonights' dinner we're having shoulder of lamb casserole with rosemary potatoes followed by a summer spiced fruit tea cake. As I write these things are cooking away in the oven with hopefully a great result! So the problem I had today was finding a decent shoulder of lamb recipe that was made for a boneless cut and didn't take all day to make (Egbert has no patience plus a large hangover so there was an air of haste in today's cooking!).
Having seen the Two Fat Ladies to a brilliant lamb shoulder casserole on an old clip for Saturday Kitchen (BBC1) last week I set about recreating a similar rather fresher version.

Here's hoping...



Lamb Shoulder Casserole

500g Lamb Shoulder, de-boned (allow more weight for boned)
olive oil
sea salt
fresh ground pepper
1 tin haricot verts or berlotti beans (plus juice)
6 cloves garlic
fresh rosemary sprig or two
1 large red onion, peeled and quartered
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 sticks celery, cut into pieces
1 leek, trimmed and cut
1 tinned whole or chopped tomatoes
2 bay leaves
Half a bottle of white wine

1. Firstly preheat oven to 170°C and pop in your casserole dish with a little oil in the bottom. Rub shoulder with oil, then rub sea salt in all the nooks and crannies. Stab the rosemary sprigs into the meat.

2. Taking the heated casserole dish out of the oven put shoulder in the pan skin side down to seal it in the hot oil. Take out and place in onions and bay leaves before placing the lamb on top. Cover with the tinned beans (plus juice from tin), the garlic cloves, onions, carrots, celery, leeks and tin of tomatoes give a gentle stir to mix about - trying not to disturb the meat. Pour over the white wine and season with black pepper.

3.Cover with a lid or double layer of foil and place in the centre of the over for at least 2 and a half hours - until lamb falls apart early when prodded with a fork. Keep checking casserole in case it is drying out if so add a cup full of water.

4. When ready leave to rest for ten minutes before serving with rosemary potatoes.

Enjoy!