Provençal shoulder of lamb and vegetable tian

Provencal shoulder of lamb — *Photo © Clay McLachlan for The Complete Book of French Cooking*

This recipe for Provençal shoulder of lamb and vegetable tian is simple to make but absolutely packed with the flavour of Provence.

A tian is a Provençal earthenware baking dish used to make gratins. It has given its name to this assortment of typically southern vegetables, cooked to a confit texture, that accompany the lamb flavored with olive oil and basil, other typical ingredients of the region.

SERVES 5

Preparation: 50 minutes
Cooking: 55 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 shoulder of lamb
3 cloves garlic, unpeeled
3 ½ tablespoons (50 ml) olive oil
Salt, freshly ground pepper

Vegetable tian

2 large onions
2 tomatoes
1 zucchini (courgette)
1 eggplant (aubergine)
3 ½ tablespoons (50 ml) olive oil
A scattering of herbes de Provence
A few sprigs of basil
Salt, freshly ground pepper

Pistou

4 garlic cloves, peeled, shoots removed
½ bunch basil
3 ½ tablespoons (50 ml) olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).

Bone the shoulder.

Prepare the pistou. Crush the garlic cloves with the basil leaves using a pestle and mortar. Drizzle the olive oil in as you crush and then thin with the lemon juice.

Brush the cavity with the pistou and season with salt and pepper. Roll the shoulder up and tie with twine. Baste it with oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350°F (170°C). Add the garlic cloves and cook for an additional 45 minutes. Remove the lamb from the baking dish, wrap it in aluminum foil, and keep warm. You will need to have the oven at the same temperature for the vegetable tian.

Peel and wash the onions and wash all other the vegetables. Cut them into disks ⅛ in. (2–3 mm) thick. Oil a baking dish. Arrange the vegetable slices – tomatoes, zucchini, onions, and eggplant – vertically in rows. It’s best to alternate all the vegetables in each row, rather than placing one vegetable in each row. Scatter with herbes de Provence, tuck in a few sprigs of basil, drizzle over a little olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Cook the vegetables in the oven for 30 minutes until soft, allowing them to stew a little in their own liquid.

CHEF’S NOTE

Try to select vegetables that are the same diameter. This will make it easier to put your tian together and your presentation will be just that much more attractive.

Extracted from The Complete Book of French Cooking by Hubert Delorme and Vincent Boué (Flammarion, 2023).