Easter lunch is a great opportunity to enjoy local lamb, with the tender Spring Lamb or the more flavourful year-old lamb or hogget to choose from. If you have a gathering, then it’s worth considering a leg of lamb, cooked pink and tender, or the more forgiving, but equally delicious, slow-cooked shoulder. But you can use these sauces with chops or any cut of lamb.
I want to recommend a sauce combination that elevates your lamb to a new level, and that replaces the traditional accompaniments of redcurrant jelly or mint sauce. The combination of salsa verde and garlic aioli add a special homemade touch. You can use either one, but if you have time and really want to put on a show, I’d go with both, it’s worth it.
I’ve taken the recipe (used here with lamb shoulder) from Rory O’Connell, a good friend who is a remarkable chef, author and co-founder of the Ballymaloe Cookery School. Once you have tried this combination, you’ll never go back to mint sauce!
Rory O’Connell’s Roast Shoulder of Lamb with Garlic Aioli and Salsa Verde
Ingredients:
- The herbs for the salsa should be chopped just before being added to the other ingredients
- 1 whole shoulder of lamb on the bone, weighing 3.6kg
- Maldon sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Aioli
- 6 large tablespoons of mayonnaise
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed to a paste
- 4-6 tablespoons lamb cooking juices
Salsa Verde
- 1 bunch of rocket, about 100g
- 1 bunch of flat parsley, about 100g
- 6 large sprigs of mint
- 6 sprigs of tarragon
- 1 tablespoon of capers, coarsely chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed to a smooth paste
- 8 anchovies, very finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
- 8 floz olive oil
- finely grated zest of 1 lemon and a little juice
- freshly ground black pepper
- Maldon sea salt to taste
Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.
Place the lamb shoulder in a large roasting tin or oven tray, skin side up. Score the skin in several places to help the fat render during cooking and to encourage it to crisp. Season generously with salt and pepper.
Roast the lamb for 30 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 160°C / 325°F / Gas Mark 3, and continue cooking for another 3½ hours.
While the lamb roasts, make the salsa verde.
Strip the herbs from their stalks and chop them to a texture that’s halfway between coarse and fine—enough so that the distinct flavours still shine through. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Taste and adjust the seasoning—though it usually won’t need salt, occasionally a pinch helps. Add a splash of lemon juice if it needs brightening. Chill until ready to serve.
For the aioli, mash the garlic and mix it into the mayonnaise. Hold off finishing the sauce until the lamb is done—you’ll need the cooking juices.
To check if the lamb is done, tug at the shank bone—it should pull away easily along with some of the meat.
Once cooked, remove the lamb from the oven. It will have released a good amount of fatty juices. Strain these through a sieve into a bowl and reduce the oven temperature to 100°C / 200°F / Gas Mark ¼ to keep the lamb warm.
Let the fat rise to the surface of the juices, then carefully skim it off with a large spoon.
To finish the aioli, thin the garlic mayo with 4–6 tablespoons of the degreased juices until it reaches the consistency of softly whipped cream—it should just coat the back of a spoon. Taste and adjust seasoning. Simmer the remaining juices and check the seasoning there as well.
To serve, use tongs or a serving fork and spoon to pull generous pieces of lamb from the bone. Plate with a spoonful of hot cooking juices, salsa verde, and the aioli.
