On the menu was a 12 hour braised lamb shoulder served in a tomato, cumin, chickpea and mint broth. It was so good I went back the next week just so I could try it again.
Now that spring is upon us and the lamb is at its best I thought it was the perfect chance to try and re-create the dish.
I’ve tried braising my lamb for both 12 hours and 4 hours and to be honest the incremental difference in flavour was not that intense so I would recommend you stick with the 4 hour version.
Try and get yourself a good quality deboned and rolled lamb shoulder that has been really well trimmed of excess fat.
The slow braising of the lamb will mean that all the connective tissue will break down and you will be able to pull the meat apart with 2 forks.
What you’ll need
1 lamb shoulder, deboned, trimmed of fat and rolled
1.5L good quality chicken stock (don’t use stock cubes)
1 medium brown onion, finely diced
1 medium carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 celery stalk, finely diced
1-2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 400g can crushed Italian tomatoes
1 400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
A small handful of mint leaves (6-7), roughly chopped
Salt & Pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
A splash of white wine if you’ve got something open but not essential
How to put it together
First we’ll sort out the lamb.
1. Pre-heat your oven to 150C
2. Pat the meat dry with a paper towel and liberally season your lamb shoulder with salt and pepper
3. Take a heavy cast iron put with a lid (I’ve used my Le Creuset) and put it over a medium heat on the stove.
4. Add a good guzzle of olive oil and sear the lamb on all sides to give it some good colour and a nice brown crust. Don’t rush this process, give the lamb enough time to brown up.
5. Put the lamb onto a clean plate and deglaze the pot with a splash of white wine. Add 250ml of Chicken Stock and stir to combine.
6. Return the lamb to the pot, cover tightly with a lid and pop it in the oven for 4 hours.
Notes:
About once an hour during the cooking process just rotate the lamb to give all sides a chance to soak in the stock mixture. Its also good to spoon some of the liquid over the meat to keep it nice and juicy.
Also keep an eye on the quantity of liquid in the base of the pot. If it starts to dry out just add a little more stock (I’ve put a buffer of 250ml into the recipe).
For the broth …
1. First, drain your chickpeas into a strainer and give them a good rinse with cold running water. Plunge into a bowel of fresh water and then repeat to remove any of the brine from the can.
2. Next, put a large saucepan over a medium heat and add a good splosh of extra virgin olive oil.
3. Into the pot goes the diced onion, carrot and celery. Stir to coat all the vegies in the oil, lower the heat and put the lid on. Sweat the vegies until they are nice and translucent, depending on how hot your stove is this could take up to 20 mins.
4. Turn the heat up a little bit and add the garlic. Stir to combine and cook for 1-2 minutes.
5. Add the canned tomatoes, 1L of chicken stock, the chickpeas and ground cumin. Stir to combine.
6. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and let simmer, uncovered, for 40 mins.
7. While the broth is simmering, keep an eye out for any slightly discoloured foam/froth that sits on the surface. This is often caused by impurities in the stock or from the chickpeas - simply skim this off the surface with a spoon and discard.
8. When the broth is ready, take it off the heat and stir through the fresh mint leaves.
9. Cover it with lid and set aside until the lamb is ready.
To Serve …
1. After 4 hours, remove the lamb from the oven, cut off the string and shred the meat with a fork :)
2. Reheat your broth/soup
3. Put some of the lamb into a clean bowel and ladle over some warm broth/soup
4. Enjoy with some crust bread!
