This hearty, slow cooked lamb oyster shoulder with balsamic glaze is the perfect balance of sweet and sour deliciousness. The slow cooking creates fall off the bone, mouth watering lamb. While the balsamic glaze fills your house with the most amazing aroma, that will have the whole family ready and waiting to eat.
Serve with our delicious homemade mint sauce, for a truly beautiful lamb dish, that will wow your friends and family. Let us walk you through it.
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What is the lamb oyster shoulder cut?
The lamb oyster shoulder, is a cut that has the blade bone running through it and the shank removed. This delicious cut is under used but great to cook with and creates amazing results.
A perfect cut for low and slow cooking, this cut is also extremely forgiving and is hard to overcook. It's a great cut for marinating, with so many different flavor combinations. You could combine cumin, garlic, preserved lemon, and za'atar spice for a Middle Eastern twist served with cous cous. Or rub your lamb with garlic, oregano, lemon zest, chilli for a greek twist serving it with a zingy yoghurt sauce, feta, a squeeze of lemon and yoghurt flat breads.
We are super lucky here in New Zealand to have amazing landscapes and pasture. Creating amazing environments for our animals to roam, eating native plants and producing delicious meat. The shoulder is a working muscle and the oyster cut creates great flavour and a nice marble, with a real sweetness to it.
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Ingredients
For the lamb and glaze:
- Lamb oyster shoulder - Here at ATK we always recommend getting to know your local producers and butchers. Speak to them about what cuts are available in your area. You can substitute this cut with a lamb shoulder bone in and follow the same recipe and method below.
- Pearl onions - also known as button, baby or silverskin onions
- Garlic
- Fresh rosemary
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Beef stock - Homemade or a good quality store bought one.
- Balsamic vinegar - we recommend using a balsamic vinegar of Modena
Optional side dishes:
- Baby carrots
- Potatoes
See our recipe card below for full quantities.
How to slow cook a lamb shoulder
This cut really needs to be cooked low and slow, it produce delicious, moist, fall off the bone meat. Our recipe guides your through a few simple steps that are hard to get wrong and produce a delicious piece of meat every time. Start by creating a flavour base for your lamb to sit on, using onions, garlic, rosemary and a little oil then well season the meat. Create a good colouring on the meat first by cooking at 220 ℃ / 428 ℉ for 20 minutes. Then add the stock to the dish and turn it down to 1130 ℃ / 266 ℉ for 4 hours to slow cook.
To create the lamb glaze
After 4 hours, take the dish from the oven, remove the lid and add the balsamic vinegar. Turn the heat up to 180 ℃ / 356 ℉, return the dish back to the oven (no lid). Baste the meat every 5 minutes during the last half an hour of cooking, using the juices in the pan. Watch the liquid levels, as you don’t want to reduce the liquid till it's all gone as this will also be your sauce. Once beautifully glazed remove from the oven, take out the pearl onions and garlic and set aside. Cover your lamb to keep warm and allow it to rest.
Serving suggestions
Depending on the season serve with hot or cold sides. Like roasted carrots and butternut squash. Or a fresh fennel and orange salad for a lighter side dish.
We highly recommend serving along side our homemade mint sauce for a delicious flavour pairing!
Love this dish? Please leave us a review below. And come join us on social, tag us in your delicious photos Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest. Hungry for more deliciousness? Subscribe to our newsletter, to receive our latest e-recipe book and never miss another ATK recipe!
Our goal is to share simple, tasty dishes created by Chef Shane and partner, Sara. Using Shane's understanding of flavours and knowledge of food, to teach and inspire you to create delicious food everyday and gain a new level of confidence in the kitchen. Sara understands what it's like preparing weekly dinners for a busy family of five and likes to create dishes that are easy, full of flavour and that the whole family will enjoy.
This delicious slow cooked lamb oyster shoulder with balsamic glaze, is well worth the time spent on it. Perfect for enjoying shared style with family and friends.
Happy cooking!
Recipe
Lamb oyster shoulder with balsamic glaze.
Ingredients
- 1.2 kg Lamb oyster shoulder (2.6 lbs) Bone in (See note 1)
- 12 Pearl onions Peeled (See note 2)
- 2 bulbs Garlic Cut in half
- 4 sprigs Fresh rosemary
- 4 tablespoon Exta virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- 500 ml Beef stock (2 cups)
- 100 ml Balsamic vinegar (⅖ cup) (See note 3)
Side dishes (optional)
- Bunch Baby carrots Peeled
- 4 Medium potatoes Peeled
- 150 g Butter (5.2 oz)
- 100 ml Milk (⅖ cup)
Instructions
To cook your lamb:
- Pre heat the oven to 220 ℃ / 428 ℉
- In a roasting pan drizzle a little of oil in the base. Layer the pearl onions, garlic and rosemary to create a base for your lamb.
- Season the piece of lamb on both sides with a good amount of salt and pepper and extra virgin olive oil.
- Place the lamb onto the onion and garlic base and place into the pre heated oven.
- Roast your lamb for 20 minutes until just starting to colour.
- Heat your beef stock in a pot.
- After your lamb has roasted for 20 minutes, pour in the hot beef stock. Cover with a lid and turn the oven down to 130 ℃ / 266 ℉.
- Set your timer for 4 hours and leave to slow cook.
To glaze:
- After 4 hours remove the lid and pour in the balsamic vinegar and turn the heat up to 180 ℃ / 356 ℉.
- Baste the meat every 5 minutes during the last half an hour of cooking using the juices in the pan. (But don’t reduce the liquid until it has all gone as this will also be your sauce. )
- Once beautifully glazed remove from the oven, take out the pearl onions and garlic, skim off any excess oil using a spoon. Cover the lamb to keep warm and allow it to rest.
Prepare your side dishes: (optional)
- Cut up your peeled potatoes and place into a pot, cover with cold water and place on the heat. Bring to the boil and cook until soft.
- Bring a pot of water to the boil and season with a pinch of salt, add your baby carrots and cook until tender. Remove from the water and season with a knob of butter.
- Strain off the water and mash your potatoes, adding in the butter and season with salt. (press your potatoes through a sieve for an extra smooth mash)
To serve:
- Arrange your lamb in a dish or on a platter and layer with the pearl onions, garlic bulb and baby carrots. Serve along side your side dishes.
- Spoon the excess balsamic pan juices over your lamb and garnish with some fresh rosemary. And enjoy!
Jamie says
This lamb is so delicious with the balsamic glaze! My whole house smelled amazing while making it!
Heather Perine says
This lamb was delicious! The balsamic glaze was the winner for me- never had it with lamb… so good!
Casey says
Wow-the flavors on this lamb were amazing! So glad I found this recipe!
Tara says
The flavor in this is divine. Pearl onions and garlic adds so much to this dish. Can't wait to make this again!
Kath says
One of the most delicious lamb dishes I've ever eaten.
Sara-Jane Bowness says
Thank you Kath so glad you enjoyed it and we appreciate you letting us know. The flavours in this dish really are rich and delicious! We think you might like this recipe as well: Slow braised beef cheeks Sara 🙂