March 19, 2018

Moroccan Lamb with Boulangere Potatoes

Shoulder of lamb – the poorer, less desirable cousin of the leg – has a bad reputation for being tricky to cook and rather laborious. In fact, the shoulder is a wonderfully forgiving cut and, in our humble opinion, by far the most delicious. All it needs is a long, slow cooking, so you can shove it in a low oven and forget about it – the oven does all the work and the shoulder emerges soft enough to pull apart with two forks.Our take is marinated in classic Moroccan spices and slow-cooked with sweet, nutty chickpeas. The result is a tender, melting mass of flavour that makes a wonderful Sunday lunch, and even better leftovers.

Ingredients (serves 6-8):

For the lamb:

1 lamb shoulder

4 sprigs thyme

2 sprigs rosemary

2 garlic cloves

Pinch of salt

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground fennel

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

100ml stock

2 x 400g cans chickpeas

2 x 400g cans plum tomatoes

½ bottle Dr Will's Tomato Ketchup

1 tsp oregano

For the potatoes:

1½ Maris Piper potatoes

Salt and pepper, to taste

225ml vegetable stock

200ml double cream

Method:

Preheat the oven to 160°C. In a pestle and mortar, add the sprigs of thyme and rosemary, the garlic and the salt, and grind until you have a rough paste. Add the cumin, coriander, paprika, cinnamon, ground fennel and olive oil and stir well.

Using a sharp knife, make lots of shallow slashes all over the lamb shoulder, then rub in the spice paste and season well with salt and pepper.

Place the lamb in a deep roasting tin with the stock, the rinsed and drained chickpeas, the plum tomatoes, Dr Will's Tomato Ketchup and the oregano.

Cover with foil and roast for 3 hours, then remove the foil and cook for a further hour until the lamb is tender enough to pull apart with two forks.

Meanwhile, peel and thinly slice the potatoes (you’ll need floury potatoes for this – we used Maris Piper but Desiree work equally as well).

Layer the potatoes in a lightly oiled gratin dish then pour over the stock and cream. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked and the top is golden and crisp.

Shred up the lamb and serve with the potatoes and steamed seasonal greens.

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