Slow-cooked lamb shoulder with spiced rice recipe
Served with dried fruit and rice, this Lebanese-spiced joint is cooked until crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The lamb will be at its best if you marinate it first for at least a day, and is even better if you marinate it for two days.
There are several elements to prepare but you can make the sauce and dried fruit in advance. Store the sauce in a sealed container and chill. Set the dried fruit aside in a covered container at room temperature.
Recipe from Feasts From the Middle East, by Tony Kitous (published by HQ, £20, out 8 March 2018).
Ingredients
For the rice- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 0.5 onion, finely chopped
- 150 g lamb mince
- 1 tsp salt
- 0.5 tsp black pepper
- 1 pinch Lebanese seven spice mix
- 1 tsp ras-el-hanout
- 200 g basmati rice
- 25 g toasted mixed nuts
- 1 handful fresh mint leaves
- 1 portion Greek yogurt
- 1 portion harissa
- 1 portion toasted sesame seeds
- 4 dried apricots
- 4 dried figs
- 4 dates
- 4 prunes
- 1 handful golden raisins
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 whole star anise
- 1 tsp rose water
- 2 tbsp honey
- 25 ml vegetable oil
- 25 g butter
- 0.5 red onion, chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 5 sprigs of thyme
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 small handful of coriander, chopped
- 1 small handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 2.5 kg lamb shoulder, bone in
- 0.5 onion, roughly chopped
- 3 garlic cloves
- 0.5 bunch of coriander, roughly chopped
- 20 g root ginger, chopped
- 0.2 tsp cumin
- 0.5 tsp ras-el-hanout
- 0.2 tsp cinnamon
- 0.2 tsp turmeric
- 0.2 tsp Lebanese seven spice mix
- 1 tsp salt
- 0.2 tsp white pepper
- 0.5 tsp black pepper
- 50 ml vegetable oil
- 10 g ground ginger
- 10 g ground mahlab
- 20 g ground allspice
- 10 g ground nutmeg
- 10 g ground cinnamon
- 15 g ground black pepper
Details
- Cuisine: Lebanese
- Recipe Type: Lamb
- Difficulty: Medium
- Preparation Time: 60 mins
- Cooking Time: 210 mins
- Serves: 4
Step-by-step
For the marinade
- Make the Lebanese seven spice mix. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and then you'll have your blend. Store in an air tight container and use when required.
- Up to two days before you serve the lamb, marinate the shoulder. Put the onion, garlic, coriander, root ginger, spices, salt, peppers and oil into a mini blender and whizz to make a paste.
- Put the shoulder into a large sealable container and rub the paste all over it. Cover and chill for at least 24 hours and up to 48 hours.
To cook the dish
- Take the lamb out of the fridge so that it comes up to room temperature – if it’s too cold, it will take longer to cook. When you’re ready to cook it, preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7.
- Put the lamb in a roasting tin and roast in the oven for 20 minutes until it has coloured on all sides.
- While the lamb is cooking in this short blast of heat, make the sauce. Heat the oil and butter in a medium saucepan and sauté the onion, carrot and garlic for 10 minutes over a medium heat until starting to soften and turn golden.
- Stir in the thyme sprigs, tomato purée and the tin of tomatoes, then fill the tin with hot water twice (making about 800ml of water in total) and pour that into the pan, too.
- Stir in the coriander and parsley, and bring to the boil. Simmer, half covered with a lid, for 15 minutes.
- Blend until smooth using a hand blender.
- When the lamb has cooked for 20 minutes, take it out of the oven and pour the sauce over it. Cover the tin tightly with foil, reduce the temperature to 170°C/340°F/gas mark 3 and return the lamb to the oven.
- Cook for about 3 hours until very tender. After each hour, remove the tin to check the meat and pour in 500ml boiling water, stirring it into the sauce. Turn the shoulder over, and spoon the sauce all over it. You’ll know it’s ready when you can push your finger through the side of the shoulder easily because the lamb has become very tender.
- While the lamb is cooking, prepare the fruit that will top the dish. Put all the dried fruit into a small saucepan, add the cinnamon, star anise, rose water and honey and enough cold water to just cover the fruit.
- Cover the pan with a lid and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 10–15 minutes to allow the fruit to plump up. Set aside to cool.
- About 45 minutes before the lamb will be ready, prepare the rice. First, heat the oil in a medium saucepan and sauté the onion for 5–8 minutes.
- Add the lamb mince, breaking it down with a spoon so it browns evenly, then stir in the spices and seasoning. Cook for about 1 minute, then stir in the rice.
- Once the rice is coated with oil and mixed into the spiced onion and lamb mixture, cover with 500ml boiling water.
- Put a lid on the pan, bring the liquid to the boil, then turn the heat down low and simmer for 10–12 minutes. Turn off the heat under the pan and set aside.
To serve
- When the lamb is ready, take the roasting tin out of the oven and strain off the sauce. Keep it warm.
- Take a large platter and spoon the rice all the way round the edge. Lift the lamb into the middle. Arrange the dried fruit around it, then scatter the nuts and mint over the top.
- Serve with the warm sauce, yoghurt, harissa and a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds.
This recipe is from Feasts From the Middle East, by Comptoir Libanais founder Tony Kitous (published by HQ, £20, out 8 March 2018).
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