Slow-cooked orange wine lamb shoulder with shallots

Portion size: Serves 8-10
Prep time 10 min, plus optional overnight drying. Cook time 5 hours
Difficulty: easy

Dairy-free

Gluten-free

Pollyanna Coupland

Food producer, delicious.

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Lamb shoulder braised in orange wine is the easy-but-impressive Easter roast you’ve been looking for. Here’s why this slow-cooked roast lamb dish with shallots is so good…

Bold flavours: Braised in funky orange wine, this lamb shoulder is as easy as it is magnificent, but some might say the shallots are the star of the show. Lounging in wine, thyme, anchovies and lamb fat, these melt-in-the-mouth morsels are not to be overlooked.
Make it ahead: The lamb can be cooked, then reheated – for a help-yourself spread, transfer the shredded meat to a slow cooker to keep warm.
Easy to scale: To serve 4-6, use half a shoulder and pour over just enough wine to cover. Drink the rest of the bottle, of course.

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Ingredients

1 lamb shoulder, bone-in (about 2.2kg)
400g banana (echalion) shallots, peeled and kept whole
20g fresh thyme
750ml bottle orange wine (see Be A Better Cook)
6 anchovy fillets in oil, roughly chopped
1 tbsp finely chopped chives to garnish (optional)

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Method

Score the outside of the lamb on both sides with a sharp knife to create a 3cm diamond cross-hatch through the fat, then season all over with salt and pepper. If you have time, put the meat in a baking tray and leave overnight in the fridge to intensify the flavour and keep the meat juicy.
Put the shallots in a large high-sided roasting tin (or casserole if you have one big enough for the lamb), then top with the thyme, followed by the lamb. Pour over the wine, scatter with the anchovies and cover tightly with foil. Cook in the oven at 160ºC/140ºC fan/gas 3 for 5 hours, turning the lamb halfway through.
After this time, the meat will be soft and falling off the bone. Carefully transfer the meat to a board or platter and slide out the bones. Pull the meat apart gently with 2 forks, keeping some larger pieces for variety in texture. Scoop out the shallots into a serving dish and scatter with the chives (if you like). Drain the roasting juices into a jug, passing them through a sieve to discard the thyme. Lots of the lamb fat will have been rendered into the juices, so use a large spoon or ladle to skim off as much as you can (and discard), then pour the remaining flavoursome deep brown sauce back over the pulled and shredded lamb.
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Nutrition

482kcals Calories
32g (15g saturated) Fat
32g Protein
1.7g (1.7g sugars) Carbs
0.6g Fibre
0.5g Salt

Cook smarter

Orange wine (fermented with the grape skins and seeds) dates back 6,000 years to the ancient lands of Georgia in Eastern Europe but burst onto the wine scene again recently and is now available in most supermarkets. The wine has floral, sometimes farmy flavours, making it a great match for lamb. If you can’t find a decently priced bottle, use a dry white wine with apricot flavours such as viognier, or even a dry cider. Remember: better ingredients give better results – this goes for wine, too.