It’s the season of delicious delights, laughter, and culinary magic. Explore delightful summer recipes, courtesy of the Red Meat Industry Services, that will leave a lasting impression on your guests.
There is just something about a deboned and stuffed lamb shoulder. Not only is it visually stunning and an impressive centrepiece for any summer gathering, but it is also sure to create a mouthwatering experience that will be remembered by your guests.
Marina Fourie, project and brand manager at Beef and Lamb SA, shares a recipe that combines succulent lamb with rich stuffing, creating a symphony of tastes that lingers on the palate.
With the lamb deboned and stuffed with a flavourful mixture of herbs, vegetables, and spices, Fourie highlights a few techniques that are required for a mouthwatering result.
A stuffing to die for
“The deboned lamb shoulder is stuffed with pearl barley, sundried tomatoes, feta, fresh herbs, and rolled. It is prepared using the slow roasting method and served with spinach and lentils. Techniques to prepare include deboning, trimming, stuffing, binding or tying, searing, and carving. It can be served hot or at room temperature.”
The trick to deboning the lamb requires careful, precise cuts, while the stuffing must likely be done the right way to ensure that the lamb stays juicy and flavourful.
A dish to blow your guests away
The recipe results in a dish that not only showcases the natural tenderness of lamb but also an unexpected blend of tastefulness. Each bite is sure to reveal the attention to detail that Foriue’s recipe has put into creating this delicious work of art.
This recipe was brought to reality as part of the Red Meat Industry Services’ Beef and Lamb SA consumer education project. The Red Meat Industry Services (RMIS) is an organisation dedicated to the growth and advancement of the red meat industry in South Africa.
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DEBONED AND STUFFED LAMB SHOULDER
Ingredients
- 1,2 - 1,5 kg lamb shoulder bone in and deboned in recipe as technique illustration OR purchase deboned shoulder bones and off cuts from deboned shoulder of lamb
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon oregano, roughly chopped
- 1 lemon, zest
- 1 tablespoon gelatin, powdered
- 2 medium onions, peeled and sliced thickly
- 1 cup stock
- STUFFING:
- 1 cup pearl barley, cooked
- ¼ cup vegetable stock, hot
- 1/3 cup sundried tomatoes (in oil), chopped
- 1/3 cup feta
- 4 tablespoons fresh mint, parsley, thyme, finely chopped
- SAUCE:
- ½ cup white wine
- ½ cup muscat / hanepoot
- 1 cup chicken/lamb stock
- ½ cup - 1 cup pan juices from roasted lamb
- PEPPERY LENTILS:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
- 2 cups green lentils, cooked
- 1 tablespoon pink pepper corns, finely crushed
- 200g baby spinach, washed
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Prepare the lamb [deboning]:
1. To debone the lamb shoulder, the blade bone and the leg bone need to be removed. Find the joint between the blade bone and the leg bone. Carefully cut the top layer and underneath to expose the ‘v’ section of the blade bone.
2. Cut around the edges of the blade bone using the point of your knife, loosening the meat. Find the joint between the blade bone and the leg and cut through it. Turn the shoulder over scrape the meat away from the bone and then slowly pull off the blade bone.
3. Remove the leg bone by cutting from the joint to the knob that connects with the blade bone. Open up the meat to expose the bone. Score down either side of the bone, remove all the meat and then repeat on the shank.
4. Cut the meat away from the bone down, and the leg bone will come away. The shoulder is now boneless, ready for rolling, tying and cooking. [https://www.australianlamb.com.au/cooking/handy-lamb-hacks/how-to-bone-
a-lamb-shoulder/].
Prepare the stuffing:
1. Prepare the stuffing; place the cooked pearl barley in a large bowl and add the hot stock and leave for 5-10 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. Stir in the chopped sundried tomatoes, feta and chopped herbs and mix well together.
2. If the shoulder has been deboned, bring it to room temperature before cooking.
3. Preheat the oven to 220°C. Combine the salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic, oregano, and lemon zest in a medium bowl as the seasoning mixture.
4. Lay the lamb out flat on a chopping board, meaty side up. If the meat is very uneven flatten it slightly with a meat mallet. Rub the meat with ½ of the seasoning mixture. Sprinkle the gelatin over the meaty side. Place the stuffing in the middle of the deboned the lamb shoulder, be careful to not overfill. Roll up and secure with butcher’s twine.
5. Spread the remaining ½ of the seasoning mixture over the rolled-up lamb. Place the lamb bones, off cuts and onions and stock in a roasting pan. Place the lamb roll on a rack in the roasting pan and roast in a very hot oven for 10 to 15 minutes to sear the outside of the lamb. Remove the lamb from the oven. Turn the oven heat down to 160°C.
6. Loosely tent the lamb with aluminum foil and place back in the oven for 1 hour. After one hour remove the foil. Using a spoon baste the lamb with some of the juices in the pan. Continue to slow roast until the meat gets to your desired tenderness or at least for 2 hours 30 minutes.
7. Remove the meat from the oven, cover with the foil and set aside to rest for 15 minutes. Carefully pour the meaty juices from the pan and keep aside. Remove the butcher’s twine and slice the lamb roll into 1-2cm thick slices.
Prepare the sauce:
8. Pour the white wine and hanepoot into the roasting pan in which the lamb was cooked.
9. Place over medium heat, and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the stock and reduced meaty juices and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring until liquid has reduced to 1 ½ cups, about 10-12 minutes. Skim the fat of the surface if required.
10. Strain the sauce into a gravy boat and serve hot with the sliced lamb, peppery lentils and spinach. The lamb can also be served at room temperature.
Prepare the lentils:
1. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onions, cover and cook for 10 mins, stirring regularly. Uncover the pan, increase the heat to medium-high and cook for a further 5 mins or until caramelised. Stir in the lentils and cook over a low heat until heated through. Add the crushed peppercorns and stir to blend.
2. Add the spinach and cook over a low heat for 2-3 mins until spinach is wilted. Stir to mix with the lentils. Season with the salt. Serve with the sliced lamb.
