My friend Iain has moved into a place that has no oven, but he does have two induction hobs. The challenge was to make a Sunday roast on them, using his limited pan selection. There were three of us eating, so I bought about 600g of boned, rolled lamb shoulder and unrolled it, which rendered it possible to cook in a frying pan. To go with it there were potatoes roasted in a saucepan with rosemary, and leeks with white cabbage cooked together in a saucepan with the lid on and a knob of butter.
Serves two or three
Ingredients:
600g boned, rolled lamb shoulder
For the sauce:
handful mint
handful parsley
sprig of rosemary
1 clove garlic, finely chopped or crushed with a pinch of salt
juice ½ lemon
½ tablespoon, white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
How I made it:
Unroll the shoulder, season all over with salt and pepper, and rub with a little olive oil. Melt a knob of butter and a spoon of olive oil in a frying pan on a medium heat and when bubbling, add lamb. Seal all over, about 3 minutes on each side, then turn heat down and cook for about 10-15 minutes on each side, depending on how thick the meat is. Add a few whole, unpeeled cloves of garlic to the pan to eat with the meat and add flavour. While it’s cooking baste frequently with pan juices using a spoon and in between basting, loosely position a lid that does not quite fit on top (!) to increase heat. Cook to taste – we had it pink, if you want it more cooked, leave it for longer. Meanwhile, finely chop herbs for sauce, then mix with all other sauce ingredients and season well. Adjust acidity to taste by adding more lemon juice or oil. When the lamb is cooked as you like, take out of pan and leave to rest for 5 minutes. Slice up and spoon green sauce over the top.
NB: Clearly you can cook the lamb in the oven in a roasting dish at about 180c for around 30-40 minutes if it’s unrolled, and use the sauce in the same way.
Eaten with:
Potatoes cooked in a saucepan with the lid tightly on with some oil, salt and rosemary and no water, which were shaken frequently to stop them sticking, and buttered cabbage and leeks. I made an additional wine-based gravy for the potatoes etc by adding a cup of red wine to the meat-pan when I had taken meat out and removed most of the fat, and simmering until the alcohol had cooked off.
Dinner Document 