Andy Allen’s Whole Lamb Shoulder with Charred Herb Salad

Ingredients

Lamb Shoulder

1 x Lamb Shoulder

Braising stock

1 x carrots, roughly chopped

2 x brown onions, roughly chopped

2 x celery sticks, roughly chopped

1 x head of garlic

1 x bunch of rosemary

10 x peppercorns

300ml red cooking wine

1.2L water

Charred herb salsa

2 x bunches or coriander – washed

2 x bunches of parsley – washed

4 x spring onions

1/2 a small red onion – finely diced

1 x red chilli –  seeds removed and finely diced

2 x garlic cloves – finely diced

2 x tbs apple cider vinegar

1 x heaped tbs dijon mustard

2 x tbs olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 140 degrees celsius.
2. Brown off the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic. Taking time to do this will ensure you get a super tasty stock!
3. Place the lamb shoulder and everything in the braising stock, into a large high sided roasting pan.
4. Cover with baking paper and then two layers of tin foil. Roast the lamb for 5 hours at 135 degrees or until the meat is tender.
5. Gently remove the shoulder from the stock and pass the liquid through a fine sieve. Discard the veggies (or eat them) and get the liquid onto the stove to reduce. Reduce the stock until it forms a jus. Crank the oven to 170 degrees. Place the shoulder back in the pan and glaze with the jus. Place the lamb in the oven and glaze every 5 minutes, for the next 25 minutes. It should look sticky, tasty and epic!
6. For the charred herb salsa, lay the coriander, parsley, and spring onions out on a tray. Season them with salt and drizzle with olive oil. Arrange them over a hot BBQ and char them on each side for 30 seconds. All you want to do is get some colour on them. We don’t want to cook them to death!
7. Once the herbs and spring onions have cooled, finely chop the coriander and parsley and slice the spring onions as finely as you can.
8. Throw them in a bowl and add the red onion, chilli, garlic, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard and olive oil. At this point, it’s important to taste, to try and get the balance right between the vinegar, mustard, and EVO. Season the mix with salt and pepper.
9. Assemble the dish and dig in!