Slow Roast Shoulder of Welsh Lamb with Vegetables and Cider Gravy (One Pot!)

This incredible slow-roasted shoulder of Welsh Lamb is cooked with the veggies – all in the same pan! Served with an easy cider gravy this succulent lamb is a real crowd-pleaser.
This post was created in partnership with PGI Welsh Lamb. All opinions are my own.

If I were to ask you “When is the perfect time to eat lamb?” What would you say?

Easter?

I know that’s what I’d have said up until recently. But then I discovered that lamb – or more specifically Welsh Lamb (which is the best – and I’ll tell you why in a minute) is actually at it’s absolute best from the beginning of August through to November. I know right?

Chris and I recently spent a fantastic couple of days down in south Wales, learning all about lamb.

• We visited the Salt Marshes at Gower Salt Marsh Lamb
• We learned about the many different cuts of lamb at a butchery session at Hugh Phillips
• We had a masterclass session with Head Chef Hywel Griffith
• We were fed a fantastic 4-course dinner (cooked by Hywel and his team) at the Beach House Restaurant in Oxwich Bay, right on the beach.

I’ll share some pics with you further on down this post, but first…

With Love Lamb Week coming up (1st-7th September 2019), I wanted to show you an easy way to get delicious lamb dinner on the table.

No par-boiling potatoes, no peeling of carrots and no need to install a second sink to fit in all of the pots and pans that the average roast dinner requires!

• We start off by drizzling oil onto a big shoulder of lamb, then sprinkling with salt, pepper and rosemary, covering with foil and placing in the oven for 3 hours.
• After three hours, baste the lamb and add in the potatoes (adding oil and seasoning again) for 15 minutes.
• Then add in carrots, shallots, butternut squash and sprouts. Toss all of the vegetables in the fat and meat juices in the pan. Back into the oven for 15 minutes.
• Then add tenderstem broccoli and lightly season, before placing back in the oven for a final 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and place the vegetables and lamb on a warm serving plate to rest while you make the gravy.

• Place the roasting tin over a medium-high heat and pour in the cider.
• Scrape up all of the bits from the pan and simmer for a few minutes.
• Then add in lamb stock and bring to the boil. Stir in a little cornflour (cornstarch) slurry to thicken.
  Serve with the lamb and veggies.

So let’s have a look at a few pics! If you want to get straight on with the recipe, the recipe video and full recipe card are at the bottom of this post.

First was our trip to Gower Salt Marsh Lamb where we saw the lambs roaming the salt marshes (you might be able to see them as tiny little specks in the first image). The salt marshes are abundant with all sorts of nourishing goodies for the lambs to graze on – such as samphire, sorrel, sea lavender and Thrift.
The lambs were expertly rounded up by the sheep dogs and farmers who moved the sheep over to the pastured field before the tide came in (a few wild horses went along for the ride too!). The sheep dogs were the sweetest things, and you can see below how much they love their owners.

After the salt marshes we headed over to Hugh Phillips butchers for a butchery session. It was amazing to see the variety of cuts available. It’s too easy to think of lamb chops, leg and shoulder as the only cuts available. I counted about 14 or 15 cuts here, and it was interesting to hear how they focus on different cuts depending on the season. i.e more diced lamb over winter – for stews and casseroles. More mince and ribs over the summer for burgers and barbecues.

Next we headed over to the Beach House Restaurant in Oxwich Bay for a masterclass session with Head Chef Hywel Griffith. I’ve got to admit, I was a little alarmed at the faggot-making process (offal scares me), but I had a little taste, and they were good! We also watch Hywel prepare a loin of lamb with laverbread sauce – which was delicious! Notice on one of the images, there’s a bottle of ‘lamb fat‘. I think that needs to be a new addition to my kitchen!

Hywel and his team then treated us to a fantastic meal at his restaurant. Check out the view from the patio outside. So pretty!
We ate:

• Laverbread loaf with salted butter
• Charred mackerel fillet with anchovy mayonnaise and avocado
• Hay smoked lamb with pearl barley and mushroom ketchup
• Salt marsh lamb with carrot and caraway puree
• Hazelnut treacle tart with vanilla and lime clotted cream ice cream

We were spoiled rotten on this trip, and it was so great to see the versatility as well as the provenance of PGI Welsh Lamb.

I couldn’t wait to get home to get in the kitchen and make this roasted shoulder of lamb (we even stopped off at a farm shop and bought more Welsh lamb for a curry ha ha).

Will you be cooking lamb this Sunday? At this time of year you can find Welsh lamb available in most supermarkets.

Slow Roast Shoulder of Lamb recipe video:

If you’d like to see some more recipes from my fellow foodies who also came on the trip, check these out below:

• Welsh Lamb Kebabs from Jane at The Hedge Combers
• Welsh Lamb Bombay Hotpot – from Pippa at The Slimming Foodie
• Welsh Lamb Paella from Eb at Easy Peasie Foodie
• I’ve also done another delicious lamb recipe recently – Lamb Carnitas – served on warmed tacos with ALL the toppings!

The Slow Roast Shoulder of Lamb Recipe:

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5 from 7 votes

Slow roast shoulder of lamb with vegetables and cider gravy

By Nicky Corbishley

This incredible slow-roasted shoulder of lamb is cooked with the veggies – all in the same pan! Served with an easy cider gravy this succulent lamb is a real crowd pleaser.

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Cook Time: 4 hours hrs

Servings: 6

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: British, Welsh

Ingredients

• ▢ 2-2.2 kg (4.4 - 4.8 lbs) shoulder of lamb
• ▢ 3 tbsp olive oil
• ▢ 1 tsp salt
• ▢ 1 tsp black pepper
• ▢ 1 tsp dried rosemary
• ▢ 4 medium red-skinned potatoes chopped into large chunks (no need to peel)
• ▢ 10 small carrots peeled with trimmed tops
• ▢ 10 shallots peeled
• ▢ ½ butternut squash peeled and sliced into 1cm-thick half-moons
• ▢ 12 sprouts
• ▢ 200 g (4 oz) tenderstem broccoli

Cider Gravy

• ▢ 150 ml (1/2 cup + 2 tbsp) cider hard cider if you're in the US
• ▢ 300 ml (1 1/4 cups) lamb stock
• ▢ 2 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch) mixed with 4 tbsp cold water to make a slurry

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Instructions 

• Preheat the oven to 180C/350F (fan). Place the lamb in a large baking tin and score the fatty bits of the lamb lightly with a sharp knife.
  2-2.2 kg (4.4 - 4.8 lbs) shoulder of lamb
• Rub on one tablespoon of the olive oil, then sprinkle on half of the salt, pepper and rosemary (1/2 tsp of each). Cover the tin with foil (tent it over the lamb, so it’s not actually touching the lamb) and place in the oven for 3 hours (this will give you well-done but juicy lamb. Cook for 2 hours and 15 minutes if you like your lamb a little rarer).
  3 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp dried rosemary
• After 3 hours, remove the foil and baste the lamb.
• Arrange the potatoes in the tin around the lamb. Drizzle the remaining oil onto the potatoes and sprinkle on half of the remaining salt, pepper, and rosemary (1/4 tsp of each).
  4 medium red-skinned potatoes
• Place back in the oven to cook, uncovered for 15 minutes
• Open the oven and turn the potatoes. Add the carrots, shallots, butternut squash and sprouts. Turn them in the oil and meat juices to coat, then place them back in the oven for a further 15 minutes.
  10 small carrots, 10 shallots, ½ butternut squash, 12 sprouts
• Open the oven and add the broccoli. Turn to coat in the oil and meat juices and sprinkle the remaining salt, pepper, and rosemary (1/4 tsp of each) onto all of the vegetables. Place back in the oven for a final 15 minutes.
  200 g (4 oz) tenderstem broccoli
• Remove from the oven and place the lamb and vegetables on a warm serving plate, then cover with foil and leave to rest for 10 minutes whilst you make the gravy.
• Add the cider to the meat juices in the roasting pan (alternatively you can transfer the meat juices from the roasting pan to a saucepan – scrape it clean so you get all the flavour and boil for 5 minutes until reduced by half.
  150 ml (1/2 cup + 2 tbsp) cider
• Add the stock and bring back to the boil. Slowly pour in the cornflour and water mixture whilst stirring until the gravy has thickened. Give it a little taste and add a little salt and pepper if required.
  300 ml (1 1/4 cups) lamb stock, 2 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
• Remove the foil from the lamb and serve with the cider gravy.

Video

Notes

Nutritional Information is per serving. Note: as it's difficult to work out the exact quantity of meat on a 2kg shoulder of lamb, I've estimated this to be 1kg of meat for the whole joint).

Nutrition

Calories: 789kcal | Carbohydrates: 56g | Protein: 36g | Fat: 47g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Cholesterol: 122mg | Sodium: 685mg | Potassium: 1848mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 24513IU | Vitamin C: 98mg | Calcium: 162mg | Iron: 6mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this recipe? Leave a comment below!

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