Roast Shoulder of Mutton with Spring Vegetables

Paint the joint with olive oil and then season all over with salt and pepper. Put in a roasting dish and cook for 15 minutes at 400°F/200°C/Reg6. Drop the temperature down to 275°F/140°C/Reg1 (not top and bottom heated) for four hours basting every hour or so.

Meanwhile prepare the potatoes, carrots and peas. Peel the swedes, cut into quarters and put into saucepan of water. Chop the thyme to deliver a good couple of tablespoonfuls.

About half an hour to go, cut the carrots into one centimetre slices, put into an ovenproof dish, sprinkle over olive oil and season with salt and fresh black pepper. Cook in the oven at 400°F/200°C/Reg6 for 20 minutres or so until just tender.

Put the potatoes on to simmer in salted water until just cooked. Put the peas into a saucepan with a tablespoonful of butter and barely cover with water, season with salt and pepper and simmer until peas are done. Put the swedes on and simmer for twenty minutes or so until just tender.

Take the meat out of the roasting tin, cover with foil and keep warm for 15 minutes or so. Drain off excess fat from the roasting dish, make a beurre manié by rubbing a tablespoonful of flour into a tablespoonful of butter. Add some stock into the roasting dish over a medium heat, scrape with a wooden spoon and slowly add the beurre manié to thicken to make a thin gravy. When ready season the gravy with pepper and salt if necessary and stir in a tablespoonful of thyme.

Drain the potatoes and peas, spoon out the carrots and make a plateful of spring vegetables, sprinkle with a little bit of thyme and keep warm  Picture  . Mash the swedes, add a good tablespoonful of butter, a couple of tablespoonfuls of double cream and whip with a fork. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove the string and fat from the mutton and cut into slices. Spoon some of the spring vegetables on to serving platres along with some slices of mutton and the mashed swede. Spoon over some gravy and serve  Zoom  .