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12-hour lamb and smoky aubergine with ewe's cheese salad
Serves 8 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 1 x 2.5kg lamb shoulder
- 10 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1tsp ground cumin
- 1⁄4tsp ground cinnamon
- 1tbsp nigella seeds
- 3 red onions, unpeeled and halved
- 2 star anise
- 4 cloves
- 1tbsp olive oil
- 150g pomegranate seeds
For the marinated aubergine
- 4 large aubergines, left whole
- juice 1 lemon
- 1tbsp white wine vinegar
- 3tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 red onion, finely diced
- 2 red chillis, deseeded and finely diced
- bunch mint, leaves finely shredded
- poppy seeds, for sprinkling
For the yoghurt dressing
- 400g natural yoghurt
- 1 cucumber, coarsely grated or finely chopped
- 1tbsp lemon juice
- 2 handfuls mint leaves, chopped
For the ewe’s cheese salad
- 60g pumpkin seeds
- 160g bulgur wheat
- 4tbsp lemon juice
- 4tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 80g mint leaves, roughly chopped
- 1 small red onion, finely sliced
- 120g parsley leaves, roughly chopped
- 1.2kg watermelon flesh, chopped into 2.5cm cubes
- 350g ewe’s cheese or feta sumac, for sprinkling
Method
Preheat the oven to 110C/230F/ Gas 1⁄4. Place the lamb on a large chopping board. Pierce 10 slits in the lamb with the tip of a sharp knife and insert a garlic clove into each one. Sprinkle a good amount of salt and pepper over the top. Sprinkle over the cumin, cinnamon and nigella seeds and rub well into the skin.
Put the onion halves in a deep roasting tin, along with the star anise and cloves. Carefully lay the lamb on top – this prevents the underneath from crisping up too much. Drizzle over the oil. Cover the whole tin tightly with foil and roast in the oven for roughly 12 hours or until meltingly tender. Remove from the oven and set aside, covered in foil.
Preheat the oven to 240C/
465F/Gas 9. To make the
marinated aubergine, heat a large
heavy-based frying pan over a high heat. Add the aubergines
and cook them, turning every
now and then, until softened all
over. This gives them their smoky
flavour. Transfer them to a baking
tray and cook in the oven for 45 minutes. After 35 minutes of
cooking, put the cooked lamb
back into the oven with the
aubergines. Leave it uncovered
so as to crisp up for the last 10
minutes of cooking.
To make the yoghurt dressing, put the yoghurt in a bowl and stir in the cucumber. Add the lemon juice, mint and a pinch of salt and pepper. Tip into a serving bowl and set side until serving.
To make the salad, toast the pumpkin seeds in a dry saucepan over a medium-to-high heat for 3 minutes or until lightly browned, shaking the pan regularly so that they don't burn. Set aside until you're ready to serve.
Place the bulgur wheat in a small saucepan and just cover with water. Put a lid on and cook over a low heat for 8-10 minutes until the water is absorbed and the grains are tender. Leave to cool.
Combine the lemon juice and oil in a small bowl and season well with salt and pepper. In a large mixing bowl, combine the mint, parsley, onion and watermelon. Tip in the lemony dressing and toss everything to coat. Transfer the salad to a large serving plate. Crumble the cheese over the top of the salad, then sprinkle over the toasted pumpkin seeds. Finish with a sprinkle of sumac.
Once the aubergines are ready, allow them to cool for a few minutes, then peel them, keeping them whole and retaining the stalks at the top to hold them together. Lay them out on a serving plate. The flesh will be falling apart, so open them out a little so that they lie flat. Put the lemon juice, vinegar, oil, onion, chillies and mint in a bowl and season with 1 heaped tsp fine sea salt. Spoon the marinade over the aubergines and sprinkle them with the poppy seeds.
Remove the lamb from the
roasting tin and shred it from
the bone onto a serving dish.
Put the pomegranate seeds into
a small bowl with a spoon for
sprinkling over the lamb. Lay all
the components out on the table
and let people help themselves.
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