POMEGRANATE LAMB SHOULDER

WITH CHUNKY BUCKWHEAT TABBOULEH & QUICK PICKLED RADISHES

Serves: 6-8  | Prep time: 20-30 mins (+ 4hrs-overnight marinating time) | Cook time: 5-5.5 hrs

Slow cooked lamb shoulder is one of those easy roasts that’s hard to get wrong. All you need is a little time up your sleeve. You don’t even need to carve it. It should break up easily with just a couple of spoons or forks. 

Our recipe contributor, Alana Lowes, has given this lamb shoulder recipe a Middle Eastern twist with a beautiful spiced marinade featuring pomegranate molasses, that’s packed with flavour. 

Freshness is brought to the dish by a chunky buckwheat tabbouleh. Apart from tasting great, this tabbouleh recipe is also gluten free. 

We love to serve this with flatbreads. If you’re keen to made them yourself while the lamb is cooking away, here is Alana’s recipe for Home Made Spelt Flatbreads. 

Recipe and images courtesy of Alana Lowes.

INGREDIENTS
2.4kg lamb shoulder, bone in
500ml warm vegetable stock

Lamb marinade
6 coriander stalks and roots (save the leaves for dressing)
1 tsp thyme leaves, approximately 6-7 sprigs
2 garlic cloves
2cm piece of ginger, finely grated
Zest of 1 lemon
3 tbsp pomegranate molasses
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp salt flakes
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground chilli

Chunky Buckwheat Tabbouleh
1 tbsp olive oil
½ cup buckwheat grains, also known as groats
1 ½ cups boiling water
2 tsp salt flakes
1 bunch parsley, leaves removed, stalks discarded
250g mini tomatoes, halved
250g mini cucumbers, finely sliced, or 1 Lebanese cucumber, finely sliced
¼ cup mint leaves, shredded
½ pomegranate, seeds removed
½ tsp sumac
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt flakes and pepper for seasoning

Quick Pickled Radishes
250g radishes, leaves trimmed and quartered
¾ cup white wine vinegar
¾ cup water
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp salt flakes

To Serve
6-8 flatbreads (here’s a great recipe for Home Made Spelt Flatbreads below if you want to make them from scratch)
Yoghurt

METHOD
To prepare the marinade for the lamb, blitz all the marinade ingredients together in a food processor. Rub the marinade all over the lamb and place into a roasting pan, cover with cling wrap and put into the fridge for at least 4 hours or ideally overnight.

The next day, remove the lamb from the fridge 30 mins before cooking.

Preheat the oven to 220°C fan forced.

Remove the cling wrap from the lamb and cook uncovered in the hot oven for 10 mins.

Reduce the oven temperature to 150°C. Add the stock to the pan, gently spooning the stock over the lamb, taking are not to wash away the marinade and continue to cook covered with foil or a lid for a further 5-5.5 hrs, occasionally basting the meat with the juices and cook until the meat is coming away from the bones and easily pulled apart using a fork. Uncover the lamb and turn the heat back up to 220°C and cook uncovered for 5-10 mins to caramalise the top. Remove from the oven and set aside to rest.

Meanwhile, to make the chunky buckwheat tabbouleh, add the oil and buckwheat groats (if the groats are raw and untoasted) to a large saucepan, place over a medium heat and toast until they turn golden in colour. Turn the heat to low and add the boiling water, taking care as the water can spit and splatter. Cover and cook for 10 mins or the buckwheat is al dente in texture. Drain and rinse. Allow to cool.

Combine the remaining ingredients for the tabbouleh together in a large bowl with the cooled cooked buckwheat and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper as desired. Set aside in the fridge until needed.

To make the quick pickled radishes, combine all ingredients and stir to dissolve the sugar. Set aside to pickle for 15-30 mins.

When the lamb has rested, remove the lamb from the roasting pan. Pull the meat away from the bones (discard the bones) and set aside on a plate.

Retain any pan juices and if needed pour a little stock in the bottom of the pan and using a whisk, stir and scrape any of the dark crust to combine with the juices. Return the meat to the roasting pan and cover with foil and set aside to keep warm in a low oven until ready to serve.

To serve, warm or cook the flatbreads in a frying pan. Serve the flatbread spread with some Greek yoghurt, topped with the lamb, tabbouleh and then garnish with the pickled radishes.

If you make this recipe, please let us know! Post a pic on Facebook or Instagram and tag us #meatatbillys.