Ingredients

Roast Lamb + Marinade

• 45 oz / 1.2 kg lamb shoulder
• 400 ml plain yoghurt
• 2 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp tumeric
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cardamom seeds
• tbsp lemon juice
• 2 cloves of garlic, sliced

Chickpea Mash

• 400 g tinned chickpeas, drained
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Method

NOTE: Make sure to start this a long time in advance, the meat needs at least a day to marinade and also a few hours to slowly cook.

1. Score tiny holes into the lamb and stuff with slices of garlic.
2. Mix up the marinade ingredients for the marinade and thickly baste the lamb shoulder in a large bowl. Leave in fridge for 24-48 hours, turning and re-basting sporadically. We want the lamb to be infused rather than coated.
3. Preheat oven at 200 C.
4. Scrape the majority of the marinade off back into the bowl, leaving a thin coating. Place lamb onto a baking tray.
5. ‘Sizzle’ in oven for 15 mins. Meanwhile, dilute the marinade in the bowl with a little water.
6. After sizzle, let oven cool and reduce heat to 140C.
7. Pour some of the diluted marinade into the tray, no more than 1 cm deep. Use a spoon to use some of the liquid to moisten the lamb. Cover with foil. Leave to cook for 2.5 hours, checking and rebasting every 30mins.
8. 10 mins before the end of the cooking start on the chickpea mash. In a small saucepan heat the olive oil. Once warm, add the garlic and cook until almost golden.
9. Add the spices for a few seconds, making sure not the burn. Once the cloves are coated in a spicy paste add the chickpeas. Cook for 5 mins, adding a touch of water if things begin drying out. Mash.

The meat was pretty tender but turned out slightly pink and probably might have benefitted from 30mins (on top of the 2.5 hours) more for most people. Despite being pink it wasn’t bloody. The spices added an extra edge to the meat but didn’t dominate the taste of the lamb. The chickpea mash added a little bit more spice and soaked up any juices. I left Jenny in charge of any other veg to go with the dish, she opted for some steamed Pak Choi, which I probably wouldn’t have done but I think she was spot on. The Pak Choi had enough flavour to be happily eaten by itself but not add too much of another strong taste to the dish.

Lamb Mechoui originates from North Africa – Morocco/Algeria/Tunisia. It’s a rich, warming flavoured method of marinading and roasting meat. Traditionally it’s done with a whole lamb, complete with all organs. Typically if you’re not feeding a whole tribe, it’s just done with a leg of lamb, I guess because it can be quite tender. The word Mechoui originates from Arabic, and means to roast over a fire. In the book it details how to do a poacher’s roast, suspending the joint off a tree over some coals. With the weather being as it is I opted for a rather less exciting oven method.

Using an oven method I read on some other variations of the recipe, they recommend boning and butterflying the joint (or asking your butcher to) to cook quicker and allow it to remain tender throughout. If you’re cooking in the poacher’s way, the leg is kept whole.

The first stage is to prepare the marinade. For 2lbs (1kg) of meat (excluding bones) I used:

• 1/2 oz Mint Leaves, chopped
• 2 tbsp Lemon Juice
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 Garlic Cloves, crushed and chopped
• 1 tbsp Ground Corriander
• 1 tsp Ground Cumin
• 1 tsp Paprika
• 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
• Salt

Just mix that all together and rub into the (or over the meat), leave to marinade for 12-24 hours in a cool place (refrigerator). Once that’s done preheat the oven at 180C, place on a roasting tray and cook for 15-17mins per 500g/1lb. That’s it.

Couscous with Caramelised Onions and Raisins

I decided to serve the lamb with another recipe from the book. This went really lovely with the meat – balanced the flavours really nicely, kept things quite fresh and was also very easy to prepare. It was also the nicest couscous I’ve had – it’d be lovely for a lunch idea. The recipe has four stages:

• Hard boil two eggs. Peel and chop. Lightly toast some almonds in a dry pan. Chop.
• Sweat one onion in 1.5 oz butter. Add 2oz Raisins, 1 tsp Brown Sugar, 1 tsp Grated Ginger and 1tsp Cinnamon. Caramelise.
• Prepare 200ml chicken stock with a pinch of saffron. Put 3oz (100g) Couscous in a bowl. Add stock and knob of butter. Leave for 10mins. Fluff with fork.
• Once couscous is ‘dry’ add the caramelised onions mixture, almonds and egg. Top with chopped mint.

Notes on Lamb Stock

Not part of this recipe, but I seem to have found plenty of recipes lately requiring lamb stock and very few shops selling any. Since I opted for the butterflied and boned method I made use of the bones and leftovers to make a lamb stock whilst I waited for the lamb to marinade. This was my first attempt at a meat stock, it was far less hassle than I’d expected it to be. Tasted lovely and rich though. Once it cooled I’ve just stuck it in the freezer until I need it. Apparently it’ll last for about 3 months.