Bone-in lamb shoulder for a slow, savory pot with artichokes, vegetables and the juices kept for serving.
Choose the form before judging the weight.
The appeal of shoulder is as much in the cooking juices as in the meat.
In a braise, large pieces sit among the vegetables rather than disappearing into a minced sauce. Keep the pieces reasonably even so you can turn them gently and judge tenderness together. A shoulder sold in thick cross-cut slices needs different handling from a whole joint: agree the cut with the butcher before you plan the dish.
Pat the surface dry before browning, then lower the heat once the liquid goes in. Simmer gently and use a fork to judge tenderness instead of treating the clock as a guarantee. If the vegetables soften before the meat, lift them out and return them to the pot near the end. Keep enough liquid to prevent the base from catching.
Agnello ai carciofi combines lamb with artichokes in Sardinian cooking. The tomato-and-lemon preparation uses both fresh vegetables and a small amount of dried tomato. Check the label separately for the origin of the meat you buy.
For Sardinian lamb with artichokes, brown the pieces and build the base with onion, garlic, carrot, dried tomato and a little passata. Add the artichoke wedges after the meat has begun to soften, then finish with fine lemon peel. Serve the vegetables and the pan juices with each piece of lamb. A whole shoulder can also be roasted with vegetables, keeping its juices for the sauce.
Specify young lamb rather than mutton, and say whether you need bone-in pieces, cross-cut slices or a whole joint. For a pot of stew, ask the butcher for clean cuts through the bones and pieces of similar size. Read the origin and cut on the label rather than assuming that every lamb shoulder comes from the region named in your recipe.
Take the meat home chilled, refrigerate promptly and follow the package’s use-by and storage instructions. Keep raw meat covered and separate from ready-to-eat foods. If freezing, portion and wrap it carefully; follow the supplier’s thawing instructions before cooking.
Ground lamb cooks and behaves differently. For a shoulder recipe, buy the named cut rather than substituting mince.
The animal’s age and the cut affect the dish. Buy young lamb when the recipe calls for agnello, and keep mature sheep or mutton for recipes written for that meat.
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