Chef's Recipes

Roast lamb shoulder with poor man’s potatoes

Australian Gourmet Traveller Spanish main recipe for roast lamb shoulder with poor man’s potatoes by Dan Hunter from The Royal Mail Hotel.

By Dan Hunter
  • 30 mins preparation
  • 3 hrs cooking
  • Serves 6
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Roast lamb shoulder with poor man’s potatoes
The first time I went to the Pyrénées and sat down to a whole lamb shoulder - just 500gm - it was amazing. Poor man's potatoes are common in cheap Spanish eating houses and 'mum and dad' restaurants.

Ingredients

  • 1 lamb shoulder, bone in (about 2kg)
  • 2 garlic cloves, slivered
  • 2 tbsp torn flat-leaf parsley
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
Roast garlic aïoli
  • 2 large heads of garlic, cloves separated
  • 150 ml extra-virgin olive oil
  • 3 egg yolks
Poor man’s potatoes
  • 100 ml olive oil
  • 1 small onion, thickly sliced
  • 2 small red capsicum, seeds removed, thickly sliced
  • 5 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
  • 100 ml white wine
  • 1 pinch each of smoked paprika and ground cumin (optional)
  • 1 kg desiree potatoes, thinly sliced using a mandolin
  • 180 ml chicken stock

Method

Main
  • 1
    For roast garlic aïoli, combine garlic and oil in a small saucepan pan and cook over low heat until golden (2-3 hours). Remove garlic, set aside and cool. Remove skin and discard (you will need 100gm). Process garlic and egg yolks in a food processor and, with motor running slowly, add oil in a thin stream until emulsified, season to taste with sea salt. If mixture is too thick, add a little water. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, set aside.
  • 2
    Meanwhile, for poor man’s potatoes, preheat oven to 150C fan-forced (see note). Warm oil in a wide pan, add onion, capsicum and garlic and cook over a low heat until soft (25-30 minutes), then season to taste with sea salt. Add wine and reduce until nearly evaporated (8-10 minutes). Add spices and cook for 5 minutes, then add potato, stirring to coat. Add stock and bring to the boil, season to taste and transfer to a buttered 2 litre-capacity baking dish. Pat down potatoes to flatten, cover with baking paper, then foil, and roast until almost tender (30-45 minutes). Remove foil and baking paper and roast until golden brown (15-20 minutes). Keep warm.
  • 3
    Make incisions in lamb with a small paring knife and fill each with garlic and parsley. Place lamb, skin-side up, in a roasting dish, season to taste with sea salt and rub with olive oil. Roast for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 100C fan-forced and roast, basting every 10 minutes, until meat reaches 56C on a meat thermometer or is cooked medium (35-40 minutes). Cover with foil, rest in a warm place then serve with potatoes and aïoli.

Notes

Note If your oven is not fan-forced, increase the temperature according to manufacturer's instructions.
Drink Suggestion: The 2003 Crawford River Cabernet Sauvignon, Henty, Victoria or a Coonawarra wine at least five years old. Drink suggestion by Lok Thornton

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  • undefined: Dan Hunter