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1
Score the lamb shoulder across the skin at 2 cm intervals, cutting into the fat layer but not through to the meat. Rub wild mint (mentuccia sarda) into the scored cuts. Season the surface with fine sea salt and black pepper. Allow the lamb to rest at room temperature while the oven heats to 220 °C. The scored skin will be visibly open, and the herb scent should be evident.
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2
Set the lamb shoulder skin-side up in a heavy roasting pan. Roast at 220 °C for 20 minutes. This initial high heat is where the dish lives or dies: the fat must begin to render freely through the scored skin before the temperature is reduced — insufficient rendering at this stage means the artichokes will not have enough rendered fat to cook in and the defining flavour exchange between lamb fat and artichoke cannot occur. The fat should be visibly bubbling and beginning to pool in the pan.
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3
Reduce the oven to 180 °C. Add the Cannonau di Sardegna to the roasting pan. Continue roasting, basting occasionally with the pan juices, until the lamb has been in the oven for a total of approximately 1 hour 20 minutes from the start. The pan juices should be bright and the lamb skin deep golden.
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4
Forty minutes before the end of the total roasting time, arrange the trimmed and halved artichokes cut-side down around the lamb in the pan. They will cook in the rendered lamb fat, not in water. After 40 minutes the artichoke edges in contact with the pan should be visibly charred at the margins; the inner leaves should yield at once to a knife point.
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5
Transfer the lamb to a board and the artichokes to a warm dish. Rest the lamb, loosely covered, for 15 minutes — large joints lose significant moisture if carved immediately. The surface should feel firm but give slightly under pressure after resting.
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6
Strain the pan juices into a small jug, discarding any solids. Carve the lamb and arrange on a platter with the artichokes. Pour the strained pan juices over at the table. The charred artichoke edges are the most flavourful part; they are not discarded.