MOROCCAN-SPICED HOGGET

Sweet and earthy with notes of chilli and citrus, this slow-cooked joint is a great lazy roast, which will set you up for a week of eating well. Hogget (lamb in its second spring or summer) develops a subtle sweetness – still as tender as lamb but not quite as rich as mutton.

SERVES 4–6

2kg hogget shoulder, bone in

1 tbsp ras el hanout or smoked

sweet paprika

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

½ tsp black peppercorns

½ tsp ground cinnamon

A pinch of chilli flakes

½ tsp sea salt

2 clementines or 1 blood orange

6–8 bay leaves

1 bulb of garlic, cloves separated

1 onion, cut into 2cm chunks

1kg root veg, cut into 3cm chunks

1 tbsp olive oil

250–300ml white wine or water

1 tsp honey (optional)

1 Preheat your oven to 220C/

Fan 200C/Gas 7. Place the hogget in a roasting tin and pat dry with kitchen paper. Leave to come to room temp.

2 Mix all the spices with the salt and pound in a pestle and mortar. Grate the zest of 1 of your clementines or the orange straight into the spice mix. 3 Prick the joint all over the fatty top with a knife, then massage the spice mix all over the meat, rubbing it into all the nooks and crannies and focussing on the meaty underbelly.

4 Tuck the bay leaves under the meat. Meanwhile, halve your clementines or quarter the orange and arrange around the lamb. Gently crush each garlic clove to loosen the skin and draw out flavour, then tuck them around and under the joint. Mix the onion and root veg with the olive oil and arrange around the meat. Roast for 45 mins, or until it has a golden crust. After the initial roasting time, remove from the oven and add the water or wine to the tin. Cover with a double layer of foil, and reduce the

heat to 160C/Fan 140C/Gas 3, then roast for a further 4 hrs.

5 Remove the tin from the oven and unwrap the meat (mind the steam!). Transfer the meat to a chopping board and rest for 30 mins to 1 hr before carving. Spoon the vegetables and citrus from the tin and save for your tagine (or serve them with fresh herbs in place of the parsnip purée).

6 Strain the pan juices into a saucepan and gently boil until reduced and slightly thickened. Taste and add a little honey, if needed, to create a light gravy (save any leftover gravy to add to the tagine). Serve the carved meat and gravy with a side of greens and tahini parsnip purée.

PULLED HOGGET Take any leftover hogget from your roast and pull it into shreds with your hands. Wrap it in the foil you used to cover the hogget during roasting. Drizzle over any leftover gravy, seal, and place in a dish.

VEGGIE OPTION If you’re vegetarian or vegan, you can swap out the hogget for a whole celeriac, peeled and rubbed in a similar melange of Moroccan spices, roasted whole in the centre of the roasting citrus and root veg – just lower the cooking time to 2 hrs after the initial blast of heat.