Roast shoulder of suckling lamb roasted with fine herbs

How to prepare a shoulder of suckling lamb in the oven . Roasted suckling lamb is a very famous dish in many places in Spain, and of course it is one of our star ingredients if we want to succeed in a celebration.

With this recipe we want you to enjoy those flavors as long as they remind us of our grandmothers’ recipes . You will find a lot of ideas to prepare lamb, here and in the lamb channel  and thus taste at home the best lamb recipes , this is an example, roast suckling lamb with fine herbs .

This Sunday I have been asked to prepare lamb and the one I usually prepare at home is the classic roast lamb on holidays, although both  Segovian-style suckling pig  and baked goat  are a top of those family meals or roasts on any Sunday of the year . I have varied the recipe with one that you wanted, with fine herbs , with a touch of rosemary and thyme . We love family meals on Sunday and this recipe that I propose fulfills everything a dish can ask for.  

There are many ways to cook lamb. Many prepare them only with water and salt. But today I propose something a little more elaborate and special for these dates. You can buy or take the herbs taking advantage of a walk in the country. In my case they have given me some pots of rosemary and thyme which are the ones that I am going to use to give the perfect aroma and flavor to my suckling lamb.

We will prepare the lamb as it is done in an authentic Castilian grill, saving the distances since we do not have a wood oven at home. An expert grill does not use many ingredients, a little water for baking, salt and aromatic herbs for meat will suffice, and we will also try to emulate the conditions of the wood oven in our kitchen. Do not tell me that it is not a recipe for licking your fingers, you have no excuses for not cooking at home, one of my favorite dishes and a specialty of ” Casa Rechupete “.

Preparation of the shoulder of suckling lamb with fine herbs

1. The first thing we will do is start with the lamb dressing. The night before roasting the lamb, we prepare a mash of fresh thyme, fresh rosemary, garlic and oil until half the mortar.
2. We impregnate the lamb with the previous mixture, cover it with film and keep it in the fridge until the next day.
3. We preheat the oven to a high temperature, about 250º C, so that when adding the lamb it does not have to be cooked from a cold environment.
4. When we are going to roast it, we take out the lamb and salt the meat well on both sides.
5. We place the leg in a clay or ceramic pot, with the inside facing up. Although it stands out a little, do not worry because during the baking it will decrease in size.
6. If you do not have this container, it would be possible to cook it on the metal tray of the oven, although in this case I recommend putting a little butter in the water. In this way it will evaporate more slowly and we will not have to replace it.
7. We lower the oven temperature to 160º C, we need the oven with temperature above and below.
8. Pour the glass of water and the white wine at the base of the casserole or on the oven tray and put everything in the oven.

Baking the Lamb

1. The meat will release its juice on the water and the sauce will gradually form. During the process we can see how the meat is dripping.
2. For this size and weight we will bake a total of 1 hour and 30 minutes. With the inside of the leg up, we will have it for 1 hour and 10 minutes.
3. Every 20 minutes we open the oven door and hydrate the meat with the sauce that is formed in the casserole (during the roasting process we add water on demand so that the lamb does not burn or dry).
4. The last 20 minutes of baking we turn the leg and place the outside of the piece up. We raise the temperature to 180º C and water with the sauce.
5. It took me two hours to roast it, but these times depend on your oven and the amount of lamb you are going to roast.
6. If the lamb is for many and your oven is not very large, you can change the heights of the oven trays. So that they are made both above and below.
7. In this case you must be careful not to burn yourself. It is likely that the roasting times are longer than those indicated. Therefore, I recommend that you start cooking it early and turn it off when it is almost finished. Just before serving you can turn on the oven and finish with the grill.

Final presentation of the shoulder with fine herbs

1. When it is easily detached when pricking with a fork, it is ready. We grill it for two minutes to brown it and serve it immediately.
2. With this method we will get the skin of the leg to be crisp, while the inside will be very juicy. At the end of the total time we remove from the oven and serve on the table.
3. For the carving we will take the leg (with a rag) by the part of the bone that protrudes and with a well sharpened knife we ​​will remove portions of meat following the shape of the leg, until we finally reach the bone.
4. I have cooked two large potatoes and then cut them into large squares. About 15 minutes before taking out the lamb, I have put the potatoes in the oven so that they finish cooking with the juice of the lamb and are impregnated with the smells.
5. You can also fry them and put them with the lamb 5 minutes before taking it out so that they are soaked well. Or accompany it with a simple garnish of lettuce, tomato and onion, a simple salad to refresh.

In this recipe you can use shoulder or leg interchangeably and the lamb can be suckling or recipes. Generally speaking, the younger and fresher the lamb, the less marinade it needs.

I hope you like it and dare to surprise your family with a Sunday meal, you will see how your mother-in-law or mother freaks out…

Be sure to enjoy all the meat recipes that we have on the blog, I assure you that you will find a lot of ideas to make yours much happier. You can see all the photos of the step by step in the next album.