Slow-Cooked Lamb Shoulder Pizza with Herbs and Mint Sauce

There are some flavour combinations that are quintessentially British, and for Cornwall-based home cook and baker, Grant Batty (@grantbatty), roast lamb with mint sauce is one of them. Whether served as part of a traditional Sunday lunch or has a sumptuous dinner, using seasonal lamb is a food highlight of the year. Add to that a rich tomato sauce, fresh herbs and a super fresh and zingy mint sauce, and it’s like having a taste of Easter in every bite.

Like other cuts popular for slow cooking, lamb shoulder has lots of connective tissue and fats, so it can be tough unless it's cooked for a long time. Once it's been given that slow-and-low love, it becomes mouth-meltingly tender. Three to five hours should result in luscious, juicy meat that pulls apart easily without much effort. If you can’t find lamb shoulder, lamb leg, veal shank, oxtail, or short ribs would also be delicious.

One thing Grant loves about this mint sauce recipe is that it’s affordable and super easy to make at home. Wild mint is the perfect addition, but you if don’t happen to live near any, you can find fresh mint year-round at your local supermarket.

This pizza is great for using up Easter leftovers, date nights and celebrating – whether it’s the start of autumn, a birthday, or just trying something new. 

Difficulty

Servings

Makes four 12-inch (30-centimeter) pizzas

Prep Time

8 hours

Cook Time

4 hours, 5 minutes

By Grant Batty

Slow-Cooked Lamb Shoulder Pizza with Herbs and Mint Sauce

Note

This recipe suits a variety of pizza styles, but we think our neo-Neapolitan or classic pizza dough works well – just be sure to set aside 3 to 4 hours for prep and proofing. Grant also recommends making the lamb a day in advance of cooking your pizza. This allows enough time to slow cook the lamb shoulder (about 4 hours) and time to cool before shredding the meat (another 1 to 2 hours).


1: Preheat your home oven to 230 °C.

Finely chop the rosemary, thyme and garlic. Using a mortar and pestle, grind them together with the olive oil.

2: Cover the lamb with the herb oil and then season with salt and pepper.

Place the lamb into a cast iron dutch oven or roasting tin and roast, uncovered, in your oven for 20 minutes. Cover the lamb with a lid or kitchen foil and lower the oven to 140 °C; cook for 3 hours.

3: Once cooked, take the lamb out of the oven.

Using a spoon, gently remove the fat from the dish, leaving the juices from the meat. Add the wine, tomatoes and lamb (or alternative) stock; mix together until combined.

4: Place the lamb back in the oven, uncovered, and cook for 45 minutes.

The lamb should be crispy on the top and tender enough to tear with a fork. Remove the lamb from the dutch oven or roasting pan and allow it to cool fully before shredding the meat. Store for up to 3 days in the fridge.

5: Remove the tomato sauce and place into a separate pan to fully cool.

Once cooled, blitz with a blender until smooth (this will be the sauce for the base of the pizza.) Store the shredded lamb and tomato sauce separately in the fridge for up to 3 days.

6: Finely slice a handful of mint leaves and place into a small mixing bowl.

Add the granulated sugar and malt vinegar and stir to combine until the sugar has dissolved.

Tip: If time allows it’s best to make this mint sauce as close to making your pizza as possible This allows the mint to stay as fresh as possible.

7: Fire up your Ooni pizza oven.

Aim for 400 °C to 450 °C on the baking stone inside. Use the infrared thermometer to quickly and accurately check the temperature of the middle of the stone.

8: Place a dough ball on a lightly-floured work surface.

Push the air from the centre out to the edge with your fingers. Stretch the dough out to form a 12-inch (30-centimetre) base, then lay the stretched dough over your lightly-floured pizza peel.

9: Starting in the centre and working your way out to the edge, spread 4 tablespoons of the tomato sauce, leaving 1½ to 2 centimetres for the crust.

10: Top generously with 50 grams mozzarella and 75 grams pulled slow-roasted lamb shoulder.

11: Slide the pizza off the peel and into your oven.

Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, using a peel to turn your pizza about every 20 seconds to ensure an even bake.

12: Remove the cooked pizza from the oven, wait 1 minute for it to cool slightly, then top with 4 teaspoons of mint sauce.

13: Slice into 6 pieces, serve and enjoy!

Repeat the steps for the remaining pizzas. 

Grant Batty

Recipe developer, baker and filmmaker based in Cornwall, England, Grant Batty has a passion for all things pizza, in particular creating authentic Sourdough Neapolitan-style pizzas. Follow him @grantbatty.
  • Four 250-gram pizza dough balls 

For the slow-cooked roast lamb shoulder and tomato sauce

  • 2 large sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 6 sprigs fresh of thyme
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1.3 kilograms lamb shoulder, on the bone
  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 grams fine sea salt
  • 2 grams freshly ground black pepper
  • 187 millilitres of red wine 
  • 1 can chopped tomatoes 
  • 150 millilitres lamb stock (or beef stock)

For the mint sauce:

  • 1 large bunch of mint, about 25 grams
  • 1 tablespoon of granulated or caster sugar (add more if you like it sweet)
  • 20 millilitres malt vinegar

For the pizza:

  • Flour, for dusting and stretching
  • 200 grams fresh mozzarella, torn into small pieces and drained
  • 300 grams cooked lamb shoulder, torn or shredded

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