Lamb Leg or Shoulder

Our answer

Nigella's Warm Shredded Lamb Salad With Mint and Pomegranate (from Nigella Bites and on the Nigella website) uses a whole lamb shoulder that has been cooked very slowly (12-14 hours) in a low oven so that it is falling-apart tender and easy to shred. The slow cooking process is successful as lamb shoulder is usually generously marbled with fat and this fat is important as it prevents the meat from becoming dry. It also makes the salad an extremely hands-off dish for the busy cook.

Our preference would be to use lamb shoulder. A lamb leg tends to have a layer of fat on the outside, rather than marbled through the meat, and this means that it is not quite so suitable for the very long cooking time. Lamb leg can become a little dry if it is cooked badly. If you wanted to use a lamb leg then it would probably be better use a pot roasting technique, in a casserole dish/Dutch oven and with some liquid, so that it doesn't dry out. If you have a leg of lamb that you would like to use, then we would also suggest considering Nigella's Butterflied Leg Of Lamb With Bay Leaves And Balsamic (from Nigellissima and on the Nigella webbsite). The lamb is cooked until pink and then sliced very thinly. But it is also an easy and impressive way to serve lamb.