Roasted Lamb Shoulder

Ingredients
1 (2 to 3 pounds) lamb shoulder
1 bunch fresh rosemary
1 head garlic, separated and peeled (My heads are small, so I used two.)
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 500*F. 

2. Place half rosemary and half garlic in bottom of Dutch Oven.  Rub lamb all over with olive oil then season with salt and pepper.  Place lamb on top of rosemary and garlic then top with remaining rosemary and garlic.  Tightly cover and place in oven.  Reduce heat to 325*F and cook until meat falls apart, about 4 hours. 

Comments
This recipe is from foodnetwork.com and I used the first lamb from our recent lamb order to make it.  I’m not sure where I went wrong, but I wasn’t thrilled with it.  I didn’t trust that it really needed to be cooked for 4 hours so I just cooked it until it reached 145*F.  Even then, it seemed overcooked.  I’m not sure if I should have trusted the recipe and cooked it the full 4 hours, or what, but it seems like it would have been completely unpalatable at that point.  Who knows, though, maybe it would have turned into something like pot roast?  I’m just not sure.  From reading the reviews, it seems like I should have trusted it with the entire 4 hours.  Seems scary!

Shown here with Mashed Potatoes with Cottage Cheese.

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