Braised Lamb Shoulder| New Easter Tradition

Ingredients

Yield:

Four

• Garnish

  • Snap Peas, 24
  • Cherry Tomato, 8
  • Parsnip, 4

• Lamb

  • 1 (3-pound or 1.5 kg) bone-in lamb shoulder roast, tied
  • 1 large head garlic, separated into cloves (about 12), peeled
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary plus 1 sprig
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme plus 5 sprigs
  • 4 cups dry red wine
  • 8 cups water
  • 100gms mirepoix

• Eggplant

  • 2 medium eggplant halved lengthways
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 100g mascarpone cheese
  • 1 small onion chopped
  • grated zest 1 lemon
  • 5g Cardamom powder
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• • Rhubard Cider Reduction
  • 1 cup thinly sliced fresh rhubarb
  • 8 tablespoons apple cider
  • 2 tablespoon sugar

Preparation

Difficulty:

Medium

Time:

Total Time:

90 Minutes

1. Procedure

   1. Make slits in lamb shoulder all over at 2-inch intervals with a paring knife. Pound garlic with kosher salt, zest, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper to a coarse paste with mortar and pestle (or mince and mash with a large knife), then stir together with oil and 1 tablespoon each of rosemary and thyme. Rub paste all over lamb. Put in heavy pot or roasting pan, then chill, covered, 12 to 24 hours.
   2. Bring roast to room temperature (about 1 hour). Preheat oven to 300F. Pour wine, mirepoix, water around lamb and add herb sprigs. Cover roast with a sheet of parchment. Cover pot with lid or cover roasting pan tightly with heavy-duty foil. Braise lamb in oven until tender but not falling off the bone, about 3 hours.
   3. Increase oven to 450°F and remove parchment, then braise lamb, covered with lid (or foil), until very tender and top is browned, about half hour or more. Carefully transfer lamb to a platter and loosely cover with foil. Let it stand 10 minutes. Remove the bone while it is warm.
   4. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add the eggplant halves and cook for 4-5 minutes. Drain well and pat dry with kitchen paper. Pre heat the oven at 200CPlace the eggplant on a baking tray, brush with 1 tbsp of the olive oil and cook for 20-25 minutes until tender and golden. Scoop out the flesh (leaving about 15mm of flesh attached to the skin), then roughly chop.
   5. Meanwhile, heat remaining oil in a large frying pan, then cook the onion for 4-5 minutes until the onion has softened. Add the eggplant flesh to the pan and fry for a few minutes, add cardamom, cook for few minutes, stirring frequently. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cheese and seasoning to taste. In a bowl, mix together the lemon zest, parsley and seasoning. Spoon the mixture into the eggplant halves. Return to the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes until the topping is golden.
   6. Combine all ingredients for the rhubarb reduction in a small saucepan, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
   7. Peel the parsnip and slice it in roundels. Marinate parsnip and cherry tomatoes with herbs, salt, pepper and olive oil. On a hot pan sear it and cook it till al-dante in texture. For snap peas blanch in salted boiling water for few seconds and season accordingly.
   8. Pour braising liquid from lamb shoulder through a fine-mesh sieve, then spoon off and discard fat remaining on liquid (you should have about 2 cups liquid; reserve pot). Bring remaining liquid to a boil in cleaned pot, reduce until thickened. Stir in thyme and rosemary and season with salt and pepper.

2. Serve

   1. Slice Meat with a carving knife into serving pieces. Gently arrange eggplant, vegetables and lamb on a dinner plate, pour the sauce on top of the lamb finish with rhubarb cider reduction and micro greens.