GREEK LAMB AND LEMON CASSEROLE

This is a dish that doesn’t take prisoners. It’s quite sharp as there’s a lot of lemon juice and there’s a lot of oil and rendered fat – most of which, to be honest, stays on the plate as you eat it. But oil and fat have great flavour and the lemon helps to cut the richness. A further advantage is that this is a one pot dish, so you save on washing up. And you don’t need to faff around, browning the meat.

(SERVES 6) 700g neck of lamb 1 medium onion 4 cloves of garlic 1 tsp dried oregano 1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary a bay leaf 120ml good olive oil 120ml water juice of 2 lemons ½ tsp ground cinnamon black pepper sea salt 600g potatoes

Set the oven to 190C, gas mark 5.

Cut the neck of lamb into chunks of your liking. There’s lots of fat but that’s part of the point of neck of lamb, so don’t go trying to trim it off or there will be nothing left.

Put the lamb chunks into a casserole – ideally an earthenware one with a lid. Add the chopped onion and sliced garlic, the herbs and bay leaf to the casserole. Now pour in the oil, water and lemon juice, stir in the cinnamon and season with black pepper and sea salt.

Cut the potatoes into quarters and distribute them around the casserole, partly submerged in the liquid, partly soaring above it.

Put the lid on and pop in the oven. After 30 minutes, reduce the heat to 170C, gas mark 3, and cook for a further two hours.

When the meat is exceptionally tender, remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving, perhaps with a simple salad of lettuce hearts and vinaigrette.