We've been lucky enough to have our good friend from the Prahran Market, Kathy Tsaples from Sweet Greek share her family-favourite Slow Roasted Shoulder of Lamb. It is the hero dish that she makes on Easter Sunday. The aromas of the lamb, garlic, lemon and herbs permeate the kitchen as it slowly cooks. After the long period of fasting from any meat product, Kathy and her family await anxiously to sit at the table to enjoy the succulent lamb.
Clean your lamb using a damp paper towel. Remove any fat that you don't want, but don't remove too much because the fat keeps the meat moist.
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees celsius.
Clean and peel the onion. Slice them about 1/4 inch thick and assemble them on the bottom of the baking dish. Sprinkle a little bit of salt and pepper and drizzle them with olive oil.
Place the lamb on top.
In a bowl, put the salt, pepper, oregano and garlic cloves (halve the garlic cloves as it's easier to insert). Generously sprinkle the seasoning over the lamb on both sides.
Using a sharp knife, make incisions all over the lamb. Insert the garlic cloves and a little rosemary into these incisions.
Now you need to slice your lemons and place the slices all over the lamb.
Cut the whole head of garlic in half and place halves in a baking dish.
Drizzle a little olive oil over the top of the lamb.
Tear a sheet of baking paper large enough to cover your dish. Wet it under a tap, scrunch it up and cover your lamb as though the baking paper were a little blanket.
Cover the entire baking dish with foil and put it in the oven. For the first 30 minutes, bake it at 200 C in a fan-forced oven. Then reduce your temperature to 150 C and bake for a further 1 1/2 hours.
Remove the foil and baking paper and bake the lamb uncovered for another 30 minutes.
