A taste of PRUE

Get stuck in to these gorgeous dishes from Prue’s latest cookery book

SLOW ROAST SHOULDER OF LAMB WITH ANCHOVY

‘This recipe couldn’t be easier. It’s just a question of putting all the ingredients in a large roasting tin and letting the oven do the work. When cooked, the lamb should be so tender that it can be pulled apart with a fork. Serve with the celeriac mash to make the whole thing into a feast.’

Serves 6 generously

◆ 1 shoulder of lamb, about 2.5kg (5½lb) bone in

◆ 100g (3½oz) anchovy fillets in oil, 60g (2½oz) drained weight

◆ 2 red onions, each cut into 6 segments

◆ 2 large carrots, sliced into 2.5cm (1in) rounds

◆ 3 or 4 sprigs of rosemary

◆ 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes

◆ 2-3 fresh bay leaves

◆ 500ml (17fl oz) red wine

◆ 1 celeriac, about 900g (2lb), peeled and cut into 3-4cm (1¼-1½in) cubes

◆ 1 Maris Piper potato, about 175g (6oz), peeled and cut into 3-4cm (1¼-1½in) cubes ◆ 75ml (3fl oz) whole milk

◆ 40g (1½oz) butter to serve

◆ Handful of peeled pistachios, roughly chopped

◆ Handful of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

1 Heat the oven to 170°C/fan 150°C/gas mark 3.

2 Prepare the lamb by removing any excess fat and using a sharp knife or Stanley knife to score a criss-cross pattern over the membrane. Put the anchovy fillets and half their oil into a food processor or blender and blitz. Rub the paste over the skin side of the lamb.

3 Put the onions, carrots, rosemary, chopped tomatoes and bay leaves in the bottom of a roasting tin and nestle the lamb shoulder on top of the vegetables. Pour the red wine into the tin. Season with black pepper.

4 Cover with a sheet of baking parchment and then one of foil, tucking it round to keep the steam in. Bake in the oven for about 5-6 hours, basting the meat every other hour. The lamb will be ready when the meat is falling away from the bone. Skim off the fat using a large spoon.

5 Put the celeriac and potato into a large pan with a good sprinkling of salt, cover with water and boil until tender. Drain, and toss in the hot pan for a minute to encourage the loss of steam. Then mash with a stick blender or hand masher.

6 Once smooth, push the mash to the side of the saucepan over a medium heat. Pour the milk into the bottom of the pan, next to the mash, and add the butter. Once the milk is hot, mix it into the mash.

7 As you serve the lamb (which should be wonderfully overcooked, fall to pieces and not look great), add a sprinkling of pistachios and chopped parsley, and a dollop of celeriac mash.

TIP Potatoes go famously gluey when mashed in a processor, or even if beaten too vigorously by hand, but you could use one for this mash. It only has one potato, and that’s a well-behaved Maris Piper, and a lot of celeriac, which never goes gloopy.