Slow roasted lamb with butterbeans

This takes a while to cook, but it’s definitely worth it when the lamb is falling off the bone and melting in your mouth! Serve with crushed new potatoes or mash and fried Greens.

Serves 6

The Ingredients:

1. 1 shoulder of lamb, bone in (about 2.2kg)
2. Salt and pepper
3. 1 head of garlic, cloves separated and peeled
4. Olive oil
5. 2 big carrots, finely chopped
6. 2 sticks of celery, finely chopped
7. 1 leek, finely chopped
8. 2 medium onions, finely chopped
9. 3 sprigs of rosemary
10. 3 sprigs of thyme
11. 2 bay leaves
12. 1 small bunch of parsley, plus a handful more, for sprinkling
13. 400g tin of chopped plum tomatoes
14. 300ml red wine
15. 300ml chicken stock
16. 3 x 400ml tins of butter beans, rinsed and drained
17. Zest of 1 lemon

The Method:

1. Preheat the oven 160C. Rub the lamb with salt and pepper. Use a knife to make ~12 cuts in the skin and insert 1/4 cloves of garlic – 3 cloves in all.
2. Heat a splash of olive oil on the hob in a roasting tin. Brown the lamb – this will take about 15 minutes. This adds colour now, as it won’t really brown in the oven. Remove from the tin.
3. Add chopped vegetables and leftover garlic to the tin with herbs and cook (medium heat) for 5 minutes. Give it an occasional stir until they start to soften; add more oil if needed. Add tomatoes, wine and stock and bring to a simmer. Add the lamb, skin down, on top. Cover the entire tin with foil (seal it properly) and cook in the oven for 2 hours.
4. Remove from the over, stir in the beans and turn over the lamb, (skin up). With the foil back on it needs 2 more hours in the oven. By which time the meat will be tender and easily pulled from the bone.
5. Remove the foil, and cook uncovered for half an hour to brown the top a little. Spoon off the fat, add seasoning and stir well. Garnish with chopped parsley, plus the zest of the lemon (grated).