Lamb is a classic springtime meat for a roast dinner, perfect for any Sunday roast. To achieve the perfect crust and “meltingly” tender meat, top chef Angela Hartnett recently shared her secret.
In the most recent episode of the Dish from Waitrose podcast, Angela whipped up a Spanish-inspired roast lamb recipe from Jose Pizarro for Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl. When serving the musician, Dave said, “This is so delicious. Oh, my god. This is great.”
The TikTok video’s caption read: “This week’s recipe from José Pizarro is slow-cooked Spanish-style lamb, braised low and slow with paprika, oregano and a touch of honey until rich, glossy and meltingly tender.”
The Secret to Tender Lamb
To help keep the meat tender and melt-in-the-mouth, there’s a quick fix every home cook can make. All you need to do is come armed with some tin foil. Once all of the seasonings and vegetables are laid in the roasting tin with the lamb, add the sherry and honey to help keep it moist. Then cover the roasting tin tightly with the foil.
Angela said: “And then just make sure everything’s really nicely tucked under tightly. So, with the foil, do it really nice and tight, cause by doing it nice and tightly, it’s gonna sort of semi steam as well as roast.”
The tin foil will help keep the steam in as the lamb roasts, so while the outside develops a lovely crust, the meat will remain succulent and juicy. In total, the cook should take around four hours.
Once the lamb is cooked and out of the oven, you’ll want to baste it with all the lovely juices in the tin. To help brown the outside, uncover the meat and roast for 30 minutes longer. Angela continued: “Really, what you want is it falling off the bone. You wanna open that foil, baste it a little bit and see that that lamb is just coming up.”
Extra Flavour and Serving Suggestions
To give the lamb an extra burst of flavour, the chef also tucked smashed garlic cloves with sliced red onions under the lamb so the juices caramelise. To complete the roast lamb, Angela served it alongside small roast potatoes and asparagus. To ensure you get a tender bite in the asparagus, simply blanch the vegetables and then lightly fry them in the pan.
The video has been viewed over 48,000 times, receiving 1,671 likes and 15 comments. Mirosae1 wrote: “Paprika? Spanish lamb? My mother will die…but it looks delish.” Sohoneill commented: “Omg I'm actually trying to get in phone to eat this looks soooooo delicious.” Melanie wrote, “Lamb shoulder is my absolute favourite,” while another agreed, “What a pairing, Angela and Dave, paprika and honey.”
So if you’re looking for a fresh new flavour combination, here’s how you can recreate Angela’s take on Jose’s recipe at home.
Spanish-Style Slow-Cooked Lamb Recipe
Ingredients
- Two red onions, cut into wedges
- Two tbsp olive oil
- One whole lamb shoulder (about 1.7-1.9kg)
- Two tsp sweet smoked paprika
- 100ml oloroso sherry (or water)
- One tbsp clear honey
- Half a 15g pack of oregano
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Put the onions in the base of a large roasting tin, drizzle with the oil and season.
- Rub the lamb shoulder with the paprika; season and sit on top of the onions. Pour the sherry (or water) into the tin, drizzle the lamb with the honey and tuck the oregano sprigs underneath.
- Cover with foil and roast for 30 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 150°C/gas mark 2 and roast for a further three hours.
- Uncover and baste with the juices, then roast for a final 30 minutes or until tender and sticky, ensuring all surfaces are thoroughly cooked and nicely browned. Rest the lamb in the cooking juices for 15 minutes.
- Spoon off the fat from the lamb resting juices, then transfer the meat to a serving platter with the contents of the tin; carve and serve with the new potatoes and runner bean salad.
