Roast Shoulder of Lamb with Caramelized Baby Onions and Honey
A favorite joint for a family roast in Morocco is a shoulder of lamb, and honeyed onions are a specially delicious accompaniment. The lamb is cooked very slowly for a long time, until it is so tender that the meat can be pulled away from the bone with the fingers. In the past, the lamb was cooked on the spit in the family courtyard or taken to the public oven. A shoulder roast of young spring lamb is always fatty, but most of the fat melts away during the long cooking, keeping the meat moist and succulent. If an older lamb is too fatty, carefully remove some of the fat with a sharp knife before cooking. Use the smaller amount of honey to begin with, and add more, to taste.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 4 to 5
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Put the lamb skin side up in a baking dish or roasting pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast in an oven preheated to 475°F for 15 minutes. Then lower the heat to 350°F and cook for 3 hours, until the skin is crisp and brown and the meat is juicy and meltingly tender. Pour off the fat after about 2 hours.
Step 2
Blanch the baby onions or shallots in boiling water for 5 minutes, drain, and when they are cool enough to handle, peel off the skins and trim the roots.
Step 3
Heat the olive oil in a wide pan, and put in the onions. Half-cover with about 1 cup water and add a little salt and pepper. Braise for about 35 minutes, covering the pan at first, then removing the lid to reduce the liquid. Cook, stirring occasionally, until all the liquid has disappeared and the onions are soft and brown in the sizzling oil. They will be ready when the point of a sharp knife goes in easily. Add the honey and cook, stirring often, for 15 minutes, until the onions are caramelized and soft enough to, as they say in Morocco, “crush with the tongue.”
Step 4
Serve very hot. Accompany the lamb with the onions, and pass around salt and pepper for the meat, which is needed to mitigate the sweetness of the onions.
