6 hour slow cooker Lebanese Lamb

This recipe is a real crowd pleaser and has a lovely celebratory feel to it with vibrant colours and warm earthy middle eastern flavours.

It has a charred spicy crust and soft tender fall away meat inside.

Feel free to omit the chilli if you’ve got little ones, I’ve done this with or without and its fantastic both ways.

Serves 6-8

Lamb Prep time 15 mins

Lamb Cooking time 6 hours

Ingredients;

2kg rolled lamb (or a leg)

5cm fresh ginger

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

4 fat cloves garlic

2 tbsp harissa paste or 4 tsp harissa dry spice mix

1 tsp ground cloves

2 tsp fennel seeds

3 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp paprika (not smoked)

2 tsp ground coriander

1 red chilli finely diced

1 tsp dry chilli flakes

2 tsp dried mint

4 tbsp olive oil.

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper.

Method

Mix together all the ingredients into a thick paste,

Score any fat on the lamb and make deep incisions all over the joint, then get to work rubbing and massaging in your mix. There will be a fair bit left over, just add this to your slow cooker along with 2 cupfuls of water and place the lamb on top. Set your slow cooker to high and forget about it for 3 hours!

After 3 hours roll the joint over and turn the temperature down to medium, check the liquid level in your slow cooker and add a little extra boiling water if needed. (your liquid should cover ¾’s of the lamb) continue cooking for another 3 hours. To be honest you could cook this for longer, i just find its easier to roast when it’s not totally falling apart.

By this time your lamb will not only smell amazing but will be super tender too. Remove from the slow cooker and place in a roasting dish, set your oven to 200c and cook for 20 mins to get a lovely charred crust.

Remove from the oven and set-aside with a covering of foil and a tea towel to rest the meat and allow you to make the accompaniments.

Pour the juices and marinade from the slow cooker into a saucepan and reduce by ½ on a high heat then spoon off the fat from the top. Feel free to add a little cornstarch slaked in a little water to thicken.

The sauce can be kept warm while you have a go at making my fruity feta couscous and smokey tomato and aubergine salad.

I hope you enjoy making and eating this as much as my me and family does, share your thoughts and recipe ideas, i love hearing from you!