Prep time: 30 minutes , Cook time: 5 hours , Yield: 4-5 servings
Ingredients
For the marinade
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses *
- 8 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp chilli powder
- Leaves from 2 rosemary sprigs, finely chopped
- 3 tsp sea salt flakes
- 2 tsp chilli powder
For cooking the lamb
- 1 lamb shoulder, about 1.5kg boneless or 2kg bone-in **
- 1 large red onion, thickly sliced
- 5 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- 100 ml vegetable or lamb stock ***
Instructions
Preparation
- Lightly score the lamb, especially the fatty side.
- Mix all the marinade ingredients, turn into marinade paste. Rub half the paste over the lamb and leave the rest in the fridge for later.
- Leave to marinade for at least a couple of hours, or ideally overnight in the fridge.
- Remove from the fridge at least an hour before cooking.
Cooking
- Heat oven to 140°C (120°C Fan, Gas Mark 1)
- Heat a casserole dish or deep roasting tin on medium-high heat on the stove. The dish needs to be large enough to comfortably accommodate the lamb shoulder but not much larger than that. You want to form a brown crust all over the lamb so the temperature on the dish needs to be high enough to form a crust.
- Cook each side of the lamb for a few minutes until browned and a crust has formed.**** When done, remove the dish from heat and scatter the sliced onions over the bottom of the casserole dish, including underneath the lamb. The onions should form a bed for the lamb to sit on.
- Rub the remaining marinade paste over the lamb using the back of a spoon, focussing mostly on the top side.
- Make a juice from the stock, honey, lemon and pomegranate molasses. Pour around the lamb (not over the lamb).
- Cover the dish with a lid or the tin with a large piece of foil. Roast the lamb, undisturbed, for 2 hrs. After two hours, start basting the lamb with the juices every 45 minutes or so. You may need to remove some of the fat midway through and/or add more water if the juices have dried up.
- Cook for a total of 5 hours, or until the meat is very tender and falling off the bone. Transfer the lamb to a warm serving plate and leave to rest for at least 15 minutes but preferably 30 minutes.
- While the lamb is resting, thicken up the juices (with the help of some plain flour if necessary).
- Serve with lamb, roasted vegetables or salad. Can also be torn up and placed into pitta breads.
Tips
-
- You can get pomegranate molasses in most large supermarkets nowadays in the speciality aisle. But if you're finding it difficult, Waitrose or any Arab supermarket will have it.
- ** Lamb shoulders usually come in at around 1.5kg. If cooking for more, you'll need to buy two or buy a leg.
- *** How much stock you need depends a lot on the size of your tin. The juices should come up to between ⅓ and ½ of the lamb.
- *** Check this website out if looking for tips on how to brown lamb.