Creator of Wholesome, Sarah Pound has won a legion of fans online, who cook her fresh, wholesome and flavour-packed recipes every night of the week. Sarah is all about making life easier for busy home cooks, and her much-anticipated debut cookbook is filled with the kind of food she has become known and loved for: simple, hearty and family-friendly dinners that use familiar everyday ingredients.

We loved the Middle Eastern slow-cooked lamb shoulder. Great for winter! Why not try it yourself.

Middle Eastern slow-cooked lamb shoulder

PREP TIME 15 minutes

COOK TIME 8 hours

SERVES 6-8

What you’ll need

2 kg lamb shoulder, bone in

1 tablespoon salt flakes

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

4 onions, quartered

80 g (2/3 cup) dried cranberries

500 ml (2 cups) chicken or vegetable stock

flat-leaf parsley or mint leaves, to serve

MIDDLE EASTERN MARINADE

100 g honey

4–5 cm piece of ginger, finely chopped

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

finely grated zest and juice of 2 oranges

2 tablespoons ras el hanout (or dried Moroccan spice blend)

TO SERVE

roast potatoes

green bean salad

Cabbage, Fennel & Currant Slaw

Let’s go! Preheat the oven to 220°C (fan-forced). Place the lamb in a large, deep casserole dish.

Season well with salt and pepper and drizzle on the olive oil. Roast the lamb in the oven for 35 minutes until the skin is caramelised and lovely and brown.

On to the marinade. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, then set aside.

Remove the lamb from the oven. Reduce the temperature to 140°C (fan-forced).

Time for some flavour. Add the onion and dried cranberries to the dish and pour the stock around the lamb to cover the base. Spoon the marinade over the lamb, be very generous with this. Reserve a little to baste the lamb while cooking.

Cover the dish with a tight-fitting lid. Slow-cook in the oven for 6-7 hours, basting with the marinade every couple of hours, until the lamb pulls away easily from the bone.

Transfer the lamb to a large serving plate. Drizzle on some of the pan juices and top with the parsley or mint. Serve with roast potatoes and a crunchy green bean salad or slaw.

TIPS

If you don’t have a large enough casserole dish, you can cook the lamb in a deep roasting tin. Make sure when covering the tin with foil that it is very tightly wrapped to stop air and moisture escaping.

Depending on your oven, the lamb may require slightly longer. It is perfect when a fork pulls the meat away easily from the bone.

MIX IT UP

Greek slow-cooked lamb shoulder

Follow the recipe above, but make a Greek instead of Middle Eastern marinade by combining 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 10 crushed garlic cloves, 3 tablespoons dried oregano, 3 heaped tablespoons chopped rosemary leaves and some salt and pepper. Pour over the lamb. Omit the onion and cranberries and sub in 4 roughly chopped golden shallots. Serve with lemon potato wedges with feta and oregano and a cucumber salad.

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