Braised Lamb Shoulder Roast with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Onion Gravy

The inspiration for this dish came first because I happened to have a lamb shoulder roast in the freezer. A local tradesman with whom we do business from time to time, butchers and sells lambs that he raises locally on a farm.  Because he raises them naturally and on a natural diet, he guarantees that his lamb won't have that "gamey" flavor that some people find off-putting.  I don't happen to be one of those people - I love the taste of lamb - but nevertheless, one doesn't see lamb shoulder roasts very often in these parts, so I was happy to find my second inspiration for this dish on the Diethood website.

However, the author of that site doesn't understand the difference between the cooking terminology of "roasted" and "braised" and named her recipe "Juicy Slow Roasted Lamb Shoulder."  First off, who needs to put an adjective of "juicy" in a recipe title? She missed the point of her unique recipe entirely, which was in using sun-dried tomatoes as a primary flavoring agent.  Secondly, her method of cooking the shoulder is braising, which means to cook in liquid over a longer period of time than conventional roasting.  Braising is the preferred method for cooking tough cuts of meat, including the pork equivalent, called a Boston Butt.  Roasting would mean letting the oven's circulating air do the job, which isn't nearly as effective in breaking down the tough muscle fibers of an over-worked shoulder as braising in liquid is.

Be that as it may, and as usual, I made considerable alterations to her recipe and the roast come out very well indeed.  My only complaint is that this was a very small shoulder, a little over two pounds, eaten at one sitting, so I had no leftovers.  The amount of gravy I had left over far exceeded the meat that rendered it, and so my recipe has been amended to accommodate a 4-5 pound roast.

Ingredients
4-5 lamb shoulder roast
2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
4 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce (like, Kikkoman)
4 tsp garlic, minced
1 6.7-oz jar sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil (like, Delallo)
1/3 cup dried parsley
1 tsp each of salt and black pepper
1 medium yellow onion, sliced into rings
1 medium sweet onion, sliced into rings (like Vidalia or Texas-1015)
3 tbsp mint sauce (like Coleman's Norfolk)
1 cup dry red wine
1 cup beef stock (like Kitchen Basics)

The Recipe
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Put the Worcestershire Sauce, vinegar, lemon juice, soy sauce, garlic, sun dried tomatoes (including the olive oil), the parsley, salt and pepper in a food processor. Add just a splash of beef stock, then pulse until a chunky paste is formed.

Place the onion rings in the bottom of a Dutch oven, then place the lamb fat side up on top of the onions.  Add the red wine and beef stock to the pot.  Pour the sun-dried tomato paste mixture over the top of the lamb.

Put the lid on the Dutch oven and place in the middle of the pre-heated oven.

Cook for 3-1/2 hours for a two pound roast.  Add 20 minutes for each pound thereafter.

When the roast has finished cooking, remove it from the braising liquid to a cutting board, cover with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 15 minutes while you finish the gravy.

Using a submersion blender, blend all the cooked onions in the braising liquid until a thick gravy is formed.  Check for seasoning, but I found it perfect as is.

Slice the lamb off the bone and ladle the gravy over the lamb.  Serve over potatoes, rice or noodles.  Alternatively, you could serve with cornbread stuffing, cornbread or in my case, Mug Bread, the recipe for which may be found here.