Lamb shoulder with herbs and preserved Lemons (serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

3 garlic cloves, peeled; 1tbsp soy sauce; ½tbsp honey; 15g finely grated ginger (I don’t bother peeling it, but that’s up to you); 1½tsp ground coriander seeds; 1½tsp ground cumin seeds; leaves from ½ small bunch of mint; leaves from ½ small bunch of tarragon; ½ small bunch of dill, leaves and stalks; ½ small bunch of coriander, leaves and stalks; 1tbsp olive oil; 1 preserved lemon, chopped; 1 shoulder of lamb (2kg), or 4 lamb shanks; sea salt

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200ºc fan. Put all the ingredients (bar a handful of soft herbs and the lamb) into a food processor, add ½tsp of salt and blitz to a paste.

2. Cover the lamb with it and, if you can, leave it overnight. If you don’t have time, it can be baked straight away.

3. Put the lamb and marinade into a cast-iron pan and cover with a lid. Otherwise, especially if for a shoulder, use a roasting tin and cover it tightly with two pieces of foil over the meat, but not touching it. Cook for 30 minutes, then turn the oven to 160ºc fan and cook for two hours.

4. Lift the lid or foil off and have a look. The meat should be soft and coming away from the bone. If not, cover it and put it back in for another 30 minutes. Be careful not to dry out the lamb.

5. Take the lamb out of the oven, cover and rest in its juices for at least 20 minutes.

6. Pull the meat off the bone, discard the bones and large bits of fat, roughly shred larger pieces, then return to the tin. Taste, it may need a light sprinkling of salt.

7. If the lamb has been resting a while, you can pop it and the juices in the tin under a hot grill to warm through and crisp up the meat on top.

8. Of course, you can shred the lamb and mix it with the juices up to a day before and keep in the fridge, then reheat in a lidded pan with a splash of water, or in a foil tray, before serving.

9. Serve with any plain grain you fancy, or even crushed boiled potatoes, sprinkling over the reserved herbs.