Lamb Shoulder with Apricots and Walnuts

• Makes 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients:

• One 3¼-pound (1.7 kg) lamb shoulder, at room temperature
• ¼ cup (60 ml) apricot preserves
• 1 cup (100 g) walnuts, lightly toasted and finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup (250 ml) dry white wine
• 2 fresh bay leaves from the Laurus nobilis or dried imported bay leaves
• 1 large thyme sprig
• One 4-inch (10-cm) rosemary sprig

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
2. If the upper leg bone hasn’t been loosened, cut around it with a knife to detach the meat from it.
3. In a small bowl, mix together the preserves, walnuts, and cinnamon. Rub the mixture over the inside of the lamb shoulder, tucking a fair amount of the stuffing into the space created by loosening the meat from the bone. Season with salt and pepper. Tie the lamb into a packet with kitchen string, keeping the apricot stuffing mixture and the leg bone, if you have it, inside the packet. You will end up with a roundish packet.
4. Place the lamb in a heatproof nonreactive baking dish and pour the wine around it. Place the herbs in the wine and roast until the lamb is browned on the outside, resists slightly when pressed, and has an interior temperature of about 145°F (63°C) for medium-rare, about 1¼ hours, basting it occasionally with the liquids in the pan. Remove from the oven, sprinkle the shoulder with coarse salt, and transfer it to a cutting board with a trough around the edge, to catch any juices that emerge from it. Cover the lamb with a tent of aluminum foil and let it sit for at least 20 minutes and up to 40 minutes, to allow the juices to be reabsorbed.
5. Place the baking dish over medium heat and bring the cooking juices to a gentle boil. Remove the herbs and reduce the cooking juices until they are the consistency of a thin syrup. Taste for seasoning.
6. To serve, remove the string from around the lamb and slice it into ¼-inch slices. Drizzle with the cooking juices and serve.

Additional Information:

• The herbs in the wine that surrounds the lamb are a flavorful addition; always use fresh herbs, as their flavor is so much brighter than dried.
• Ask the butcher to remove the blade bone from the shoulder and to loosen but leave in the upper leg bone.
• I suggest using cinnamon from Vietnam or Indonesia, which pretty much covers the world’s major cinnamon-producing areas.
• Try a lovely, lush Corbières with this, such as one from Clos de l’Anhel