Stuffed lamb shoulder
A typical Easter dish for Bulgaria
Ingredients:
1 lamb shoulder
1 cup short grain rice
250-300 g mushrooms
1 bunch of spring onions
Oil and butter
1 tablespoon dried mint
2 sprigs of fresh mint
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
Rinse the lamb shoulder and rub well with salt, pepper, paprika and butter.
Chop the spring onions and sauté them in a little oil. Five minutes later add the mushrooms (diced) and rice. Continue cooking for 5 minutes. Meanwhile season with salt, pepper and mint. Pour in a little water (about 1 cup) and simmer until the rice absorbs the liquid.
Cut the lamb shoulder between the ribs and the meat all the way through. You should obtain a hollow space. Fill the latter with the mushroom and rice stuffing and sew the edges of the shoulder so that the stuffing couldn’t slip out. Place the shoulder on a large baking dish and pour in about 1 cm of hot water in it (which is at least 200 ml). Put it in the oven, heated to 220-250°C. Once the lamb browns a bit, cover the dish with aluminum film. Then reduce the temperature to 160°C and cook the lamb for about 3 hours.
Finally, remove the foil and brown the meat a little bit more. At this point, you can add potatoes and salted water. Continue cooking for a futher 30 minutes, basting regularly the meat. Serve hot.
