Slow-roast hogget shoulder
Very occasionally we get some cold and damp autumn days in Wales, but the weather can’t get in the way of life and we truly believe that the harshest elements can be softened by a hearty meal.
Hogget is a more mature version of lamb. Those additional days munching grass (lamb less than 12 months, hogget 12–24 months, mutton more than 24 months) transform the sweet lamb into a darker, richer meat, which lends itself to slower cooking. Lamb will work as a substitute if you can’t get hold of hogget, although it won’t have the depth of flavour that more mature meat does.
INGREDIENTS
Serves 4 – 6
- 25g/1oz butter, softened
- 2 white onions, sliced
- 3 large parsnips, finely sliced lengthways
- 1 small celeriac, peeled and finely sliced
- 6 garlic cloves, half cut into thin slices, half cut into shards
- 2 thyme sprigs, leaves picked
- 2 rosemary sprigs, leaves picked
- 2 large waxy potatoes (eg. Charlotte or Anya), finely sliced
- 1 Welsh organic hogget shoulder, about 1.5–2kg (choose the size according to the appetite of your guests)
- 500ml/18fl oz vegetable stock
- Pure Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the salsa
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 garlic clove, crushed or grated
- 2 Granny Smith apples, cored and cut into matchsticks
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- Small bunch of mint, leaves picked and finely sliced
- 1 red chilli, finely chopped, deseeded for a mellow heat
METHOD
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Preheat the oven to 140ÅãC/120ÅãC fan/275ÅãF/Gas 1. Grease a large roasting dish, about 37cm x 25cm/14. x 10in with half the butter. A heavy cast-iron dish is best but other roasting pans will also work.
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Mix the onions, parsnips, celeriac, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, the sliced garlic and half the thyme and rosemary red roasting dish.
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Add a neat layer of potatoes and a few spots of the remaining butter, then season the top of the potatoes and sprinkle on the remaining thyme.
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Pierce the hogget joint with a sharp knife about ten times all over. In each incision, poke in a shard of garlic and a few rosemary leaves. Season all over and place on top of the bed of vegetables.
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Warm the stock in a large saucepan until it comes to the boil and pour carefully over the vegetables. Cover the roasting pan tightly with two layers of foil and cook in the oven for 4 hours. (Now is a good time to go and enjoy the weather…)
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Remove the foil, increase the oven temperature to 180C and cook for another 30 minutes. This final stage of cooking will crisp up the potatoes and hogget.
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To make the apple and mint salsa, mix the olive oil, vinegar and garlic together in a small bowl until thoroughly combined.
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Add the apples, shallot, mint and chilli and mix just before serving.
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Season to taste. Serve the hogget with the salsa and green beans or braised red cabbage.
RECIPE: From our book Sea Salt: A perfectly seasoned cookbook.
