Pulled lamb shoulder with sticky pomegranate glaze

Another fabulous dish from the BBC. We’ve tried this with our free range lamb shoulder joint, and it’s fantastic. Cooking the meat really slowly in fruit juice makes it meltingly tender, and the juices double up as a sweet glaze. Perfection.

Prep 20 mins (plus marinading time – as much time as you can spare, ideally 24 hours) | Cooking time 5 hours

Serves 6

Ingredients

4 garlic cloves, chopped

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 lemon quartered, pips removed

1½ kg bone-in Beech Ridge Lamb shoulder joint

2 red onions, cut into wedges

1 carton of pomegranate juice

2 tbsp clear honey

250g natural yogurt

1 pomegranate (seeds form one pomegranate)

small handful mint leaves, chopped

Method

Put the garlic, cinnamon, cumin, oregano and lemon in a blender with 1 tsp salt and 2 tsp black pepper. Blend until smooth.

Put the lamb in a large roasting tin and tip the marinade over the top. Massage all over the lamb and leave for 24 hrs in the fridge, or up to 2 days.

Remove lamb from the fridge 1 hr before cooking. Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/ gas 3.

Scatter the onions around the lamb, tucking some underneath, then pour over the pomegranate juice. Cover the lamb with foil and cook for 4 hrs.

Remove the foil, carefully pour the meaty pomegranate juices from the tin into a large saucepan and add the honey. Increase oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7, re-cover the lamb and continue cooking for 30 mins.

Meanwhile, bubble the cooking liquid over a high heat until reduced, thick and syrupy – this may take up to 30 mins.

Pour the sticky pomegranate glaze over the lamb and onions and return to the oven for another 30 mins, uncovered, until the glaze is bubbling and just starting to char, and the lamb is really tender.

Mix the yogurt, most of the pomegranate seeds and mint leaves in a small bowl.

Shred the lamb at the table and serve with the sticky onions and the minty pomegranate yogurt. Scatter over the remaining pomegranate seeds.

Serve with your favourite salad or Sunday veg.

 

From BBC good food.