This Roasted Lamb Dish Will Be The Star Of Your Rosh Hashanah Spread

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish holiday celebrating the beginning of a new year, is celebrated with a table full of symbolic foods. Perhaps the most recognizable is challah, a round, braided loaf meant to symbolize the infinity of years and seasons. Other options may include pomegranates, dates, leeks, and a fruit called quince — but what every table is sure to include is a plate full of apples and honey. The apples, dipped in honey, represent the hope for a sweet and prosperous new year. It's a simple — but delicious — tradition full of good fortune.

Among the many small plates, fruits, and sides on the Rosh Hashanah table, you'll also likely find a hearty main. On Rosh Hashanah, the head of the year, it's common to find the head of a fish or ram, representing the Torah verse that reads, "God shall place you as the head, and not as the tail," indicating a year led with strength and integrity. Because ram isn't readily available in the States, lamb or sheep is often used instead, usually also including the shoulder to provide more meat for serving. In this recipe written with developer Michelle McGlinn, lamb shoulder is slow-roasted in low heat until pull-apart tender, then slathered with apple butter and caramelized to a sweet-and-savory crust. The result is a shreddable roast that pairs well with challah, kugel, honey-roasted carrots, and pomegranate-laced salads — and of course, with plenty of extra apple butter.

The first, and most important, ingredient you will need is a lamb shoulder, which is one of the best cuts to slow roast. These can most easily be found at a butcher who specializes in lamb, who will likely have every part for sale and scalable to the size of your gathering. Because lamb, like beef, shrinks in the oven, buy slightly more lamb than is needed: In other words, buy about 1 pound of lamb per person, noting that the final amount will be closer to 10 or 11 ounces each. For serving 6 people, purchase a 6-pound bone-in lamb shoulder.

From there, you'll just need olive oil, salt, pepper, fresh rosemary, garlic, shallot, white wine, and apple cider. To make the apple butter, you'll also need 10 to 12 red apples, honey, brown sugar, cinnamon, and ground ginger, which will be mixed with Dijon mustard before being spread on the lamb.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Add the lamb shoulder to a roasting pan. Drizzle with the olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Using a sharp knife, score the lamb shoulder across the top several times, about ½-inch deep. Fill the scores with sliced garlic and rosemary, inserting each as deeply as possible.

Add the quartered shallot, wine, and apple cider to the roasting pan around the lamb.

Cover the roasting pan with a double layer of foil, tightly enclosing the lamb.

Roast for 2 ½ hours.

In the meantime, prepare the apple butter. Add peeled, cored, and sliced apples to a saucepan and cover with apple cider.

Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for 30 minutes.

Once the apples are completely soft, remove the pot from the heat and blend the mixture using an immersion blender.

Return the pot to the heat and add the honey, brown sugar, cinnamon, and ground ginger.

Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to a simmer and simmer until thick, about 30 minutes, stirring often.

When the apple butter is done, transfer 1 cup to a small bowl and add the mustard. Mix well to combine.

After 2 ½ hours, remove the lamb from the oven and use the juices to baste the top of the lamb.

Cover the lamb in the apple butter and mustard mixture, then return the pan to the oven and roast until pull-apart tender, about 1 hour longer.

Remove the roast from the oven and transfer to a plate. Cover with foil and rest for 20 minutes.

Shred with two forks.

Serve with the remaining apple butter.

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Apple butter isn't technically butter, being that it isn't made from a milk product at all. Instead, apple butter gets its name from its smooth, thick consistency, which is achieved solely by simmering the apples until all the moisture is removed. Some apples will have more moisture than others, meaning your apple butter's cook time may depend entirely on the type of apple used. Soft apples are best for apple butter, being that they break down quickly and easily cook off moisture, leading to a faster, more buttery result. Crisp varieties can take as long as 2 hours to thicken.

Some soft varieties of apple include Fuji, McIntosh, and Cortland. With these apples, after 30 minutes of simmering, the apple butter should be thick and smooth with a dark caramel color. If the consistency is still closer to applesauce, continue cooking the apple butter, stirring frequently and checking for thickness every ten minutes. Once the consistency is closer to jam, test the apple butter by adding a dollop to an ice-cold plate. If it stands solidified like butter, it is ready, and will thicken into apple butter as it cools.

Lamb isn't a typical meat to serve shredded or pulled, and shredding lamb meat will play out a little differently than shredding a pork shoulder. The process is similar to carving a Thanksgiving turkey, which is usually carved into smaller pieces. To shred the lamb, you can use a carving fork or simply a regular fork, and pull away pieces from the lamb shoulder, removing any bones or cartilage as you carve. The best way to do this is with large, sturdy tongs or by holding a second fork in the other hand to secure the lamb. The lamb, which cooks for nearly 4 hours, should pull away easily from the bone, but will be leaner and more resistant than pork.

If desired, you can also slice the lamb with a sharp knife, cutting it into thin, tender slices. For this method, it is easiest to remove the meat from the bone, then slice the larger slabs into smaller, uniform pieces. Even with this method, the lamb will be so tender it will likely fall apart naturally into smaller pieces, which can be served all together on a serving platter.

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