Serves 6-8, Prep Time 45 minutes, Cook Time 3 hours

Recipe Tina Tuncan

2 kg lamb shoulder, boned

2 cups parsley leaves, chopped

1 cup basil leaves, chopped

2 sprigs of thyme, leaves stripped

2 tbsp olive oil

4 garlic cloves peeled, roughly chopped

zest and juice of 1 lemon

4 anchovies, roughly chopped

4 cups chicken stock

2 tsp salt

cornflour, dissolved in a little water

pomegranate seeds, for garnish

 

Make a textured paste with the parsley, basil, thyme, olive oil, garlic, lemon zest and anchovies either on a chopping board or in a blender. Spread all over the inside of the laid-out lamb shoulder. Roll up tightly and secure with string. Preferably refrigerate overnight to allow flavours to develop.

Choose a roasting dish that fits the lamb easily with plenty of room to hold the stock. Remove lamb from the fridge and bring to room temperature. Heat oven to 200°C. Put lamb in roasting dish and bake until the outside of the lamb is beginning to colour, approximately
30 minutes. After the lamb is coloured on the outside, reduce the heat to 160°C and add stock and lemon juice to the roasting dish. Turn the lamb every 20-30 minutes and cook until tender, about 2 hours.

Remove the lamb and keep warm. Reserve the juices, pour into a small saucepan, skim off fat, bring to the boil and thicken with a cornflour slurry. Adjust seasoning.

Slice lamb and serve with sauce.

To make in advance

Cook, then chill lamb and slice approximately 1.5 centimetres thick, placing overlapping slices in an oven-proof serving dish.

Pour half of the sauce over the sliced lamb, cover the dish with tinfoil or a lid and reheat the lamb for service in a preheated 180°C oven for approximately 30 minutes. Remove the foil for the last five minutes to bring up the colour on the meat. Serve with the remainder of sauce.