You can slow cook extra lamb for a delicious main course and simply freeze the filling until you’re ready to make the ravioli.
TO DRINK: Saronsberg Full Circle is a big, full shiraz also containing viognier and mourvèdre. Its ripe complexity will be gorgeous with this rich dish.
Ravioli of slow-baked lamb shoulder with sage butter
Ingredients
- olive oil, to rub
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 x 2,5kg – 3kg lamb shoulder, bone in
- 4 large carrots, roughly chopped
- 2 onions, quartered and roughly chopped
- 1 head of garlic, halved
- 500ml (2 cups) dry white wine
- a handful of fresh thyme leaves
- 150g Parmesan, freshly grated, plus extra for serving
- 30ml (2 tbsp) fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- salt and finely ground black pepper, to taste
- PASTA
- 500g cake flour
- 5 large eggs
- SAGE BUTTER
- 150g butter
- 50ml fresh sage
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 250°C.
Oil and season the lamb shoulder. Place the carrots, onion and garlic in a deep roasting dish. Place the lamb on top and roast uncovered until it starts to brown, about 30 minutes.
Reduce the heat to 160°C. Add the wine and thyme, cover with foil and bake until the meat falls off the bone, about 3 hours. Remove from the oven and cool. Slice the meat from the bone, reserving all the juices and fat. Set aside overnight.
For the pasta, place the flour on a dry work surface and make a well in the centre. Break the eggs into the centre. With a fork and your fingers, work the flour and eggs together to form a messy dough. Knead for about 3 minutes to form a smooth oval ball. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.
Finely chop the lamb with a large, sharp knife. Mix the meat with the Parmesan, parsley and some of the reserved lamb fat (this will be solidified and floating on top of the reserved roasting juices from the day before). Season to taste.
Heat the lamb jus (the juices with all the fat removed) in a pan until it reduces by half. Set aside.
To make the ravioli, roll the pasta out in long rectangular sheets using the thinnest setting on a pasta machine. Feed the dough through repeatedly until the pasta sheet is soft and thin. Cut the sheet in half to produce two long sheets of equal length. Place small balls of the meat mixture at 5cm intervals along one part of a sheet. Spray with a thin mist of water and top with the second sheet of pasta. Gently seal the pockets around the sides of the filling, ensuring that the air is removed from each pocket. Work quickly so that the pasta doesn’t dry out.
To make the sage butter, heat the butter over a gentle heat until the white milk solids separate and begin to brown. Remove from the heat and add the whole sage leaves. Whisk gently to prevent the butter from frothing over.
Just before serving, cook the ravioli in plenty of boiling salted water for 3 – 4 minutes. Sprinkle a little Parmesan in each serving bowl. Pour in approximately 30ml (2 tbsp) of the lamb jus and top with four ravioli. Top the ravioli with approximately 30ml (2 tbsp) of sage butter. Sprinkle with Parmesan, garnish with parsley and serve.
