Three-hour shoulder of lamb Sunday best

Only cooking for two? You can still push the boat out with these weekend wonders from food writer Orlando Murrin

There is an art to braising and it results in the tenderest, most flavoursome meat you can imagine. In France, shoulders or legs of lamb are lingeringly braised for seven hours until they can be ‘carved’ with a spoon and fork, but for a half-shoulder or leg, three hours does it. I like to serve this on a bed of canned flageolet beans, drained and reheated with a little butter and a crushed garlic clove folded through, plus the braising vegetables.

3 HOURS 20 MINUTES | SERVES 2 | EASY

half-shoulder or half-leg of lamb on the bone 800-900g olive oil a splash

onion 1, cut into six segments

carrot 1, cut into 3cm chunks

celery 1 stick, cut into 3cm chunks (optional)

garlic 2 cloves, sliced
 full-bodied white or red wine 375ml (or use water) rosemary 2 large sprigs

bay leaves 2

butter a small knob

plain flour 2 tsp

brandy 1 tbsp (optional)

TO SERVE

flageolet beans 400g tin, drained and rinsed

garlic 1 clove, crushed (optional)

butter a knob

1 Heat the oven to 150C/fan 130C/gas 2. Pat the lamb dry with kitchen paper and season all over. Heat a splash of oil in a medium ovenproof pan and fry the lamb on all sides over a high heat for 3-5 minutes or until well browned. Transfer the meat to a plate. Fry the onion, carrot, celery (if using) and garlic in the remaining fat in the pan, stirring often for 3-4 minutes or until the veg is tinged with brown. Tip in the wine, rosemary, bay and seasoning, and bring to the boil, deglazing the pan. Nestle the lamb in the liquid, cover with a sheet of baking paper and a lid, and oven-braise for 3 hours, turning the lamb twice until it is totally tender and falling away from the bone.

2 Use tongs to lift the meat out onto a plate. Strain the braising liquid into a separating or regular jug. Transfer the drained vegetables from the sieve into a small bowl, discarding the rosemary sprigs and bay. Keep the meat and vegetables warm in a low oven, covered in foil. Remove as much fat as you can from the surface of the braising 
liquid, then pour into a small pan and bring to a simmer. If you want to thicken the juices, mash the butter and flour to a paste, and stir a little of this into the boiling juices, whisking all the time and adding only as much as needed to achieve the desired thickness. Taste for seasoning – add salt to soften the wine flavour or brandy for depth and richness.

3 Reheat the beans with the garlic and butter, then season. Arrange the flageolet beans and braising vegetables on two plates. Use a spoon and fork to pull off chunks of lamb and put these on top. Drizzle over the rich sauce.

PER SERVING 701 kcals | fat 39.1G saturates 17.8G | carbs 13.7G | sugars 7.8G fibre 4G | protein 36.5G | salt 0.4G