Words: Will Bee
If you are wanting a big summer spread for a dinner party, then we have a fresh new recipe for you to try. A succulent lamb shoulder, marinaded in a shawarma spice mix, accompanied with flat breads, this is a dish that certainly will leave your guests wanting more. Make sure you cook allow the lamb to marinate and cook for long enough is and if you really wanted to make the most out of it, you could drop the temperature down further and increase the cooking time just to make that meat even more tender.
Lamb Shoulder:
2kg bone in lamb shoulder
5 red onions, trimmed and halved widthways
5 sprigs mint 1 garlic bulb halved
1 litre lamb stock
4 tbsp pomegranate molasses
4 tbsp shawarma spices (recipe to follow)
Shawarma Spice Mix:
25g cumin seeds
15g coriander seeds
10g black
peppercorns
6g rose petals
6g fennel seeds
17g fine salt
6g cinnamon
48g sumac
5 cloves
5g garlic powder
5g onion powder
Flatbreads:
375g self raising flour
½ tsp fine salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
350g natural greek yoghurt
1 garlic clove crushed
small bunch parsley, roughly chopped
40g unsalted butter, room temp
Garnish:
Pickled red onions
Watercress
Tahini
Tzatziki
Baby gem lettuce
Guindilla chillies
Spice Mix
Combine all the spices into a spice grinder and blitz to a fine powder.
Lamb shoulder
Begin by combining 4 tbsp of pomegranate molasses with 4 tbsp of shawarma spice mix
Remove the lamb from the fridge and using a small paring knife make some small incisions all over the shoulder, around half and inch in depth. Rub the spice mix into the shoulder getting into all of those incisions. Return to the fridge and allow to marinate for a minimum of 3 hours but preferably overnight for maximum marination.
When you are ready to cook, remove the shoulder from the fridge an hour prior to cooking to allow it to come to room temperature for even cooking throughout. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees/gas mark 3.
Now prepare your trivet. Add your halved onions and garlic to the bottom of the deep tray, sprigs of mint and the litre of lamb stock, followed by your lamb shoulder. Cover the tray tightly with tin foil and add to the oven for 3 hours 30 minutes. While this cooks, make your flatbreads and prepare your garnish.
Once the lamb has reached its cooking time remove the foil and turn the oven up to 200 degrees/gas mark 4 and roast uncovered for half an hour checking after 15 minutes. This will help caramelize the marinade and create a nice bark for the lamb.
Once the lamb has finished cooking, strain the cooking liquor and reduce it down in a pan until a thick and sticky consistency. Pick all the meat down and fold in the reduced liquor and serve.
Garnish
The garnish is very much up to you, but I would suggest pickling some red onions, some great quality guindillas and lots of amazing middle eastern condiments to help with this wonderful dinner table filler.
Flatbreads
When the lamb gets to its last hour of cooking, begin to prepare the flatbreads as you want to use the dough in its freshest state.
Using a mixer and a dough hook, add all the ingredients to a bowl and begin mixing on a slow speed for 3 minutes until it comes away from the bowl and looks like a smooth dough. This can be achieved by hand if a mixer is not accessible.
Transfer the dough to a clean floured bowl, cover with a tea towel and allow to rest for 20 minutes. While they rest, make the butter by mixing the crushed garlic and chopped parsley into the soft butter.
Once rested, divide into 10 equal pieces, and roll out to desired size on a floured surface.
Using either a hot griddle, non-stick frying pan or a bbq, cook the flatbreads for 1-2 minutes on each side till desired char is reached, remove from the heat and brush with garlic butter and cover with the damp cloth to keep them moist. Reheat when required.