Shake up your Sunday roast lamb with Adam Liaw’s French herb mix and Irish-style mashed potatoes and gravy

Name: Shake up your Sunday roast lamb with Adam Liaw’s French herb mix and Irish-style mashed potatoes and gravy
Cook time: 2 h 30 min
Yield: 6-8
Cuisine: Modern Australian
Ingredients: 1 lamb shoulder (around 1.8kg), bone in; 3 tbsp herbs de Provence (see below); 1 tsp salt; 2 tbsp olive oil; 1 carrot, cut in half; 1 large brown onion, quartered; 2 tbsp roughly chopped parsley, to serve

Adam Liaw

June 30, 2023

Roast lamb shoulder rubbed with herbs de Provence (and a side of Brussels sprouts colcannon).William Meppem

easyTime:2 hours +Serves:6-8

A classic but simple Provencal herb mix (this recipe makes extra) elevates your Sunday roast lamb.

In recent years, shoulder has overtaken leg as Australia’s most popular lamb roast – and it’s easy to see why. It’s slightly smaller (and therefore slightly more affordable) and it’s also very forgiving. You can cook it any way from medium-rare to falling-off-the-bone with excellent results.

My preference with lamb shoulder is to cook it until it’s falling off the bone when it has one, but if I’m using a boneless lamb shoulder I like it medium-rare.

Ingredients

1 lamb shoulder (around 1.8kg), bone in
3 tbsp herbs de Provence (see below)
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1 carrot, cut in half
1 large brown onion, quartered
2 tbsp roughly chopped parsley, to serve

For the gravy

3 tbsp plain flour
125ml red wine
500ml beef or chicken stock
1 tbsp red wine vinegar

Herbs de Provence

1 tsp ground fennel
1 tsp dried marjoram
2 tbsp dried parsley
2 tbsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried tarragon
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tbsp dried oregano
3 dried bay leaves, crushed

Method

Step 1
For the herbs de Provence, combine the dried herbs in a press-seal bag and mix. This will keep for a few months.
Step 2
Rub the lamb with the herbs, salt and olive oil. If you have time, leave uncovered in the fridge overnight.
Step 3
Heat your oven to 180C (fan-forced or conventional). Put the carrot and onion in a heavy-based casserole dish or roasting tray, and place the lamb on top. Pour in a cup of water, cover with a lid or aluminium foil and roast for 3 hours. Uncover and roast for a further 1 hour.
Step 4
Remove the lamb to a separate plate to rest and place the roasting dish on the stove over medium heat. Skim off most of the fat, leaving about 3 tablespoons. Add the f lour and cook for about 3 minutes until the flour starts to brown.
Step 5
Add the wine and scrape any residue from the base of the dish. Add the stock a little at a time, stirring to remove lumps, until the gravy is the consistency of pouring cream. Adjust seasoning, remove from the heat and stir through the red wine vinegar. Strain, scatter the lamb with parsley and serve with the Brussels sprouts colcannon.