Roast Shoulder of Lamb With Couscous-and-Date Stuffing
- Total Time
- About 7 hours
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:8 servings
- 1shoulder of lamb (about 4½ pounds)
- Salt and black pepper
- 1¼cups couscous
- 1tablespoon orange-blossom water
- 1teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2tablespoons sunflower or vegetable oil
- ⅞cup dates, stoned and cut into small pieces
- ⅓cup raisins
- ½cup blanched almonds, chopped coarsely
- Optional, for garnish: 8 dates and 8 blanched almonds.
- ⅔stick butter, cut into small pieces
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
875 calories; 59 grams fat; 24 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 26 grams monounsaturated fat; 6 grams polyunsaturated fat; 47 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 21 grams sugars; 40 grams protein; 786 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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- Step 1
Preheat the oven to 475. Put the lamb, skin side up, in a baking dish, sprinkle with salt and pepper and place in the oven. Immediately lower the heat to 325 and cook for 4 hours or until the skin is crisp and brown and the meat is moist and meltingly tender. Pour off the fat after about 2 hours and pour in ¾ cup of water.
- Step 2
For the stuffing, put the couscous in another baking dish, and add 1¼ cups warm water, a little salt, the orange-blossom water and cinnamon. Stir well. After about 10 minutes, pour in the oil, and rub the couscous between your hands to air them and break up any lumps. Mix in the remaining ingredients, except the butter, cover with foil and put in the oven with the lamb for the last 20 minutes or until steaming hot. Before serving, stir in the butter so that it melts and is absorbed evenly. With a fork, fluff up the couscous stuffing, breaking up any lumps. Add a little salt to taste.
- Step 3
For the garnish, remove the stones from each date and replace them with the blanched almonds. Serve the meat with the couscous stuffing garnished with these dates.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Kate NYC
When you cook a shoulder low and slow, as this is, it will always end up being well done, but still meltingly tender. In fact you could cook it longer (boned or not) and at a lower temp (e.g., 275F) and would get a wonderful result. But the thing with a shoulder is that if you cook it only to medium rare, or if you cooked one as you would a leg (350F, 15 min/lb), it will be tough. It's due to the different muscle structures. Likewise if you low/slow roast a leg, it will be shoe leather .
Todd
How does 4 hours in step one add up to "about 7 hours" at the top of the recipe?
Andrew
Is that really “7/8” as in .875 of a cup of dates? Would it ruin it if I just used a cup? I can’t find my 7/8 measuring cup. Or is it “seven or eight” cups of dates?
WR
looking at the timing - this is not a 7 hour recipe, right? Am I getting my math wrong? It looks like 4 hours roughly in the oven with the couscous going in for the last 20 minutes or so.
Andrew
Is that really “7/8” as in .875 of a cup of dates? Would it ruin it if I just used a cup? I can’t find my 7/8 measuring cup. Or is it “seven or eight” cups of dates?
boognish
Would prunes work instead of dates?
Todd
How does 4 hours in step one add up to "about 7 hours" at the top of the recipe?
Puccia
If you don't have foil, what can you use instead to cover the couscous in the oven? Thanks!
Tom
Time should be adjusted for a boneless shoulder. We overcooked our 4-pounder, even though we pulled it out after 3 hours. Would have been medium rare after, what, 2 hours? Still delicious.
Kate NYC
When you cook a shoulder low and slow, as this is, it will always end up being well done, but still meltingly tender. In fact you could cook it longer (boned or not) and at a lower temp (e.g., 275F) and would get a wonderful result. But the thing with a shoulder is that if you cook it only to medium rare, or if you cooked one as you would a leg (350F, 15 min/lb), it will be tough. It's due to the different muscle structures. Likewise if you low/slow roast a leg, it will be shoe leather .
Celia
I cooked this recipe with a 2lb bone in shoulder of lamb. I reduced the time to approximately, half the time recommended. I removed a very small amount of fat after an hour. I found the easiest way to cut dates was with a pair of scissors rather than a knife. The flavors were delicious.
Denise
Delicious! I used 1 box of couscous.
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