isithalal.food · Recipes

Roast lamb shoulder with bay and juniper, no wine

Theo Randall's lamb shoulder pot-roasted with garlic, bay leaves and juniper berries, using Halal lamb and water in place of the 250 ml of white wine, with the red wine vinegar flagged.

Italian · Main · Easy · 1 boned lamb shoulder, about 1.5 kg · 145 min

Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.

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Why Halal checks matter here

The shoulder is braised in 250 ml of white wine with 150 ml of red wine vinegar, and the lamb needs Halal slaughter.

Halal-critical ingredients

• White wine: The published recipe braises the lamb in 250 ml of white wine. Wine is the khamr the Qur'an forbids, and on this site that includes wine cooked into food. Use the same amount of water, as here. See Wine.
• Red wine vinegar: Wine vinegar is a scholarly difference: the Hanafi school, Indonesia's MUI and IslamQA permit it, while the classical Shafi'i rule and Malaysia's 2006 fatwa do not. Use it only if your school accepts it. See Red wine vinegar.
• Lamb shoulder: Lamb is Halal only from an animal slaughtered the Halal way. Buy from a Halal butcher, who can also bone it for you. See Lamb.

Ingredients

Lamb

• 1.5 kg Halal lamb shoulder, boned by the butcher (not rolled and tied)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves
• 6 bay leaves
• 5 juniper berries
• 150 ml red wine vinegar (see the vinegar check below)
• 250 ml water (our swap for 250 ml white wine)

Method

1. Brown the lamb. Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan, gas 4). Trim any excess fat from the Halal lamb shoulder. Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole and brown the lamb on all sides over a high heat. Lift it out and pour off any excess fat.
2. Add the aromatics. Put the garlic, bay leaves, juniper berries, vinegar and water into the dish and set the shoulder on top.
3. Pot-roast. Cover tightly with a lid or foil and cook for 1 hour 30 minutes, basting now and then with the juices, until the meat is tender. Uncover for the final 10 minutes to reduce the juices a little.
4. Rest and serve. Lift the lamb onto a board, cover and rest for 15 minutes. If the juices have not reduced, boil them on a high heat until thickened, then season. Serve the lamb in slices with its juices, topped with the bay, garlic and juniper.

Allergens

none

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Roast lamb shoulder with bay leaves and juniper' by Theo Randall (serves 6: a 1.5 kg lamb shoulder, boned by the butcher but not rolled, trimmed of excess fat and browned on all sides in 2 tbsp olive oil in a flameproof casserole, the fat poured off; 6 garlic cloves, 6 bay leaves, 5 juniper berries, 150 ml red wine vinegar and 250 ml white wine added and the lamb set on top; covered tightly and cooked 1 hour 30 minutes at 180°C (160°C fan, gas 4), basting now and then, then 10 minutes uncovered; rested 15 minutes under cover while the juices are boiled down if needed). We specified Halal lamb and replaced the white wine with 250 ml water; that swap is ours. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Photograph from our ingredient library: lamb chops on a grill, not the finished dish from this recipe.