Mechoui-Style Slow-Roast Lamb Shoulder
Butter, garlic and cumin rubbed lamb, slow-roasted until it pulls apart, then dipped in cumin salt. A feast without a fire pit.
Ingredients
- 2 kg bone-in lamb shoulder
- 75 g Butter, softened
- 6 cloves Garlic, crushed
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp Ground coriander
- 2 tsp Paprika
- 2 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Black pepper
- 1 pinch Saffron, crumbled (optional)
- 2 Onion, cut into thick rounds
- 250 ml Water
- 1 tbsp ground cumin mixed with 1 tsp salt, for dipping
Method
- Mash the butter with the garlic, spices, salt, pepper and saffron. Cut shallow slashes all over the lamb and rub the paste over it and into the cuts. Leave for 1 hour at room temperature, or overnight in the fridge.
- Heat the oven to 160°C (140°C fan, 325°F). Lay the onion rounds in a roasting tin, set the lamb on top and pour the water into the tin. Cover tightly with foil.
- Roast for 3 hours, basting with the buttery juices twice, until the meat pulls away from the bone easily.
- Remove the foil, turn the oven up to 220°C (200°C fan, 425°F) and roast for 20–30 min more, basting once, until the outside is crusty and browned.
- Rest for 15 min, then pull the meat into chunks with two forks. Serve with the onions and juices, bread, salads and little bowls of cumin salt for dipping.
Tips
- In Morocco mechoui is a whole lamb roasted for hours in a clay pit; a covered low oven gets you the same melting texture at home.
- Leftovers are wonderful stuffed into batbout with harissa and chopped tomato.
Sources
Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:
Open Mechoui-Style Slow-Roast Lamb Shoulder in Nouns Cooking