Festive Flavours: SLOW COOKED HONEY HARISSA LAMB SHOULDER W MINTY VERDE

A sticky, succulent show stopper lamb centrepiece!

Welcome back to Unfiltered Flavours. Issue #23 is my sticky slow cooked harissa lamb with a pomegranate molasses glaze and minty verde. This deserves to be on your Christmas dinner table!

The lamb of your dreams

Now lamb is so forgiving when you slow cook it. Lamb leg has more meat but usually has a lot less intramuscular fat which means there’s more error for messing up. Lamb shoulder is marbled with fat and because the meat is more evenly distributed across the bone it cooks quicker and better too. I think the most important part of this recipe is actually making sure your tray is tightly sealed with foil. If it isn’t, you risk drying out your meat completely

You want a good size shoulder1

When it comes to lamb it’s either got to be herby or heavy on the spices. Some people don’t enjoy lamb because it’s quite rich in flavour or as some would say “gamey”. If you don’t like lamb for that reason, it means you probably need a recipe that’s loaded up with some spice and acidity to cut through the richness of the meat. This recipe is that. I recently went to turkey and fell in love with pomegranate molasses, you dont have to use this though! You can get it from any decent Turkish market though, if you were wondering. I also LOVE cooking this lamb over a bed of whole shallots because they cook in the juices and become these melt in the mouth bits of heaven.

Toasting and grinding your own whole spices makes a huge difference in flavour

Verde just means green, this verde isn’t a traditional Mexican one. This leans more towards the Italian variation of verde. It’s got herbs like basil, which is sweet and pungent. Then you have the addition of mint because it pairs so wonderfully with lamb

This verde is vibrant and really brings an acidic hit, which balances out the flavours

Method & Ingredients

Harissa Lamb:

1 bone in lamb shoulder ( mine was 2.5kg)

1 tbsp toasted cumin seeds

2 tsp toasted coriander seeds

1 tsp Paprika

1 tbsp Dried Oregano

12 Cloves Garlic

125g Harissa paste

Salt

500ml beef or chicken stock

5 shallots

A sprinkle of Zataar (for serving)

Glaze:

3 tbsp pomegranate molasses

2 tbsp honey

1 tsp cumin seeds

Minty verde:

40g mint

20g Basil

40g parsley

1 tsp Capers

6 caper berries (optional)

2 tsp Dijon mustard

Juice of 1/2- 1 lemon

Zest of half a lemon

1 garlic clove

3 spring onions

100-150ml olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Combine your toasted cumin and coriander seeds in a pestle and mortar. Grind until smooth then add your oregano paprika and half your garlic cloves.

2. Grind into a paste then add your harissa paste and mix until combined

   

   This is what your grounded down marinade should look like

3. Now heavily season your lamb with salt. Remember this is a big joint of meat! Then add your harissa paste and smoother it all over. Be sure to poke some holes in the joint and insert the remaining garlic cloves. Place the lamb ontop of a bed of whole shallots.

4. Then cover and let this marinate overnight for best results. When ready to cook, remove the joint from the fridge an hour or two before.

5. Preheat the oven to 200°c. Add the chicken stock to the roasting pan then cover very tightly with foil. Roast for 30 mins then drop the heat to 150°c and slow cook for 2-3 hours or once the meat is soft.

6. To make the minty verde, combine all the ingredients in a food processor and blitz until you have a salsa consistency.

7. For the glaze, combine the honey, pomegranate molasses and cumin seeds in a small bowl.

8. Once your lamb is tender, cover with the glaze then roast in the oven uncovered for 20 mins at 180°c.

   

   The last 20 mins are purely for building up the stickiness

9. Let your lamb rest for 20 mins before shredding and serving on a bed of the minty verde!