Mediterranean
Good Food Everyday
From
Good Food Everyday
season
1
episode
7
Spicy Slow cooked Farm 88 Lamb Shoulder with Harissa
With
Gary Mehigan
Slow-roasted lamb shoulder with harissa, cumin and fennel. Pulls apart with a fork.
SERVES
6
About this recipe
Lamb shoulder rubbed with harissa paste, toasted cumin, ground fennel and cracked black pepper, then roasted low for hours over halved onions and a head of garlic until the meat shreds with a fork and the fat caramelises in the pan. Serve over the hummus with warm flatbread. A Friday-night centrepiece.
Lamb shoulder is the slow-cook cut. The high collagen content from the connective tissue around the bone gels the cooking juices into a self-saucing braise; the fat marbling renders out gradually and bastes the meat from inside. Score the surface in a crisscross pattern half a centimetre deep, an inch apart, so the rub penetrates and the fat renders out.
Harissa is the North African chilli paste that defines this dish. Made traditionally from smoked red chillies, garlic, caraway and olive oil pounded together in a mortar, it brings heat balanced by smoke and a slight floral note from the caraway. The Tunisian brand Le Phare du Cap Bon (the boat-can with the lighthouse on the front) is the supermarket standard; small-batch jars from Middle Eastern grocers are the upgrade.
Three hours at 160 degrees, then crank the heat to 220 for the last fifteen minutes to crisp the surface. Rest for twenty minutes before pulling the meat apart with two forks. The onions and garlic underneath have melted into the juices; spoon them up with the meat. Hummus on a platter, lamb on top, warm flatbread alongside.
Ingredients
- 1 Tasman Butcher Farm 88 Lamb Shoulder approx. 3kg
- 1 tsp Cumin toasted & ground
- 1 tsp Fennel seeds ground
- 1 tsp cracked Black Pepper
- 2 tbsp Harissa paste
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 Onions, cut in half
- 2 heads Garlic, cut in half
- ¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 400ml Salt reduced Chicken or Lamb stock plus 1 cup water
- ½ cup Harissa (see recipe extras)
- Pickled Red Cabbage (see recipe extras)
- Hummus (see recipe extras)
- 1 cup fresh Mint & Coriander leaves
Method
1. Score the surface of the Farm 88 Lamb Shoulder in a crisscross fashion ½ cm deep 1 cm apart and place into a non-reactive dish.
2. Mix the ground dry spices, Harissa paste, Olive Oil and Salt in a small bowl. Spread the spice mix evenly all over the lamb rubbing into the scored lines.
3. Place into the fridge for approx. 6 hours or overnight to marinate.
4. Pre heat fan forced oven to 145C
5. Place the marinated Lamb Shoulder into a heavy-duty roasting pan, add the onions, garlic, stock and cover with foil and pop into the oven. Cook for 3.5 hours, basting once with the marinade and juices per hour.
6. Increase the oven temperature to 200C, remove the foil and add another two tablespoons of Harissa to the juices in the pan. At this stage you may need to add a little more water. Continue to cook for a further 20 minutes, basting regularly to caramelize the surface of the lamb
7. When the Lamb is cooked it should be super tender and fall easily from the bone when pushed or carved. Remove from the oven and lift the lamb from the roasting tray.
8. Remove the onions and garlic and set aside under a sheet of foil and keep warm. Add the remaining water to the roasting pan, place over a medium heat and scrape any sediment from the bottom of the tray to create a gravy. Pour off into a small pot and skim away any excess lamb fat and discard the fat.
9. Serve with the remaining Harissa on the side.
10. Harissa and Hummus - separate recipe
Gary Mehigan
Gary Mehigan spent eleven seasons as a judge on MasterChef Australia before turning his attention to the road. He hosts Around the World on Two Plates and Good Food Everyday, cooking through markets and family kitchens from Spain to Sri Lanka. His own kitchen instinct sits in classical French technique with a forensic eye for produce.
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