Easter Series: Slow cooked lamb with garlic, anchovies and butter beans

Easter Series: Slow cooked lamb with garlic, anchovies and butter beans

Easter Series: Slow cooked lamb with garlic, anchovies and butter beans

 

Recipe 3 in our Easter ‘Freeze & Feast’ series - slow cooked lamb with garlic, anchovies and butter beans, the perfect showstopper for Easter day and SO easy! The beauty of this dish is you can prep everything ahead of time and just pop in the oven when needed.

Ingredients

1 lamb shoulder

3 leeks, topped and tailed

1/2 tsp of fennel seeds

1 head of garlic, cloves separated and peeled

1 small jar or tin of anchovies in olive oil

1 750ml bottle of white wine

1 large jar of butter beans (we love Bold bean Co)

Salt and pepper

 

Method

  • Preheat the oven to 150C
  • Rinse the leeks and chop into chunks (4 chunks per leek), put into a large roasting tray or oven proof dish, sprinkle over the fennel seeds
  • With a small knife, make the same number of insertions as you have garlic cloves into the flesh of the lamb - all over (c. 1 inch deep)
  • Squish a garlic clove into each of the holes and follow with a whole or halved anchovy (depending on the size of the anchovies)
  • Transfer the lamb to the dish on top of the leeks and pour over the bottle of wine. Season all over with salt and pepper
  • Cover tightly with foil and roast in the oven for 5-6 hours
  • Remove the lamb from the oven, check that it is completely cooked and pulls away from the bone easily. If it doesn't, return to the oven for another hour or so.
  • Lift the lamb from the dish onto a chopping board and shred the meat away from the bone into manageable pieces, return to the roasting tray with the leeks and delicious juices.
  • Add the jar of butter beans including their delicious stock if you're using good quality jarred beans and stir together. Check the seasoning and serve. 

 

This can be made a couple of days ahead and stored in the fridge until you need it. Likewise you can freeze in containers defrost, and return to a casserole dish when you're ready to serve. 

Reheat in the oven, covered at 180C for 40 minutes and serve with root vegetable gratin and a bitter leaf salad or steamed greens.

We hope you have a fabulous, chocolate filled bank holiday weekend!