Slow-roast shoulder of lamb with cumin and coriander

Serves 8-10

• 1 shoulder of lamb with the bone in

• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds

• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds

• A few good pinches of sea salt flakes

• A few good pinches of coarsely cracked black peppercorns

• A drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil

• A small handful of fresh coriander leaves, to serve

1 Preheat the oven to 150°C, 300°F Gas 2.

2 Place the lamb shoulder on a roasting tray and use a small sharp knife to score the fat in a criss-cross pattern — ensuring you don’t cut through to the meat. Next, make the spice mixture. Put a frying pan on the heat and tip in the cumin seeds and the coriander seeds. Cook the seeds, tossing them regularly, until they are toasted, look a couple of shades darker, and are nice and fragrant.

3 Take the pan with the seeds off the heat and crush them using a pestle and mortar. Mix the crushed cumin seeds and the crushed coriander seeds in a small bowl with the pinches of sea salt and the coarsely cracked black peppercorns.

4 Drizzle the extra-virgin olive oil all over the prepared lamb shoulder so that the spices will stick, then scatter the spice mixture over the shoulder.

5 Cook the lamb shoulder for 5-6 hours until the meat is meltingly tender and almost falling off the bone. If the delicious exterior is not rich and golden in colour when the meat is cooked (it will depend on your oven) then take the lamb shoulder out of the oven and turn the oven temperature up to 220°C, 450°F, Gas 8.

6 When the oven has heated up to the higher temperature, pop the lamb shoulder back in for about 10 minutes or until it’s browned. Turn the oven off and let the lamb sit somewhere warm (in the oven with the oven door slightly ajar, if you like) for at least 20 minutes, though it would be happy to sit there for an hour.

7 To serve the lamb, carve it into chunky shards (it won’t slice into perfectly thin slices as it’ll be so tender) and serve it with the fresh coriander leaves scattered over the top.