Bruce Poole’s slow-roast shoulder of lamb with harissa, spiced pilaf rice and yoghurt

• shoulder of lamb 1 large – about 2kg
• rose harissa 1 x 90g jar
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• heads of garlic 2, kept whole, plus 3 extra cloves, peeled and minced
• olive oil
• lemon 1, quartered, plus 1 extra for squeezing
• cucumber ½
• thick Greek-style yoghurt 125g tub
• fresh mint 1 bunch, leaves picked and chopped
• onions 3 large
• vegetable oil
• sultanas or chopped dried apricots 100g
• ground cumin 1 heaped dsp
• ground allspice 1 heaped dsp
• saffron threads a large pinch – about 12
• caster sugar
• basmati rice 400g
• cold water 500ml
• coriander 1 bunch, leaves picked and chopped
• flaked almonds 100g, toasted

Instructions

A good 4 hours before eating, set the oven to 175C. Rub the shoulder of lamb with half the jar of harissa and season really well with salt – it shouldn’t need any extra pepper. Chop the whole heads of garlic in half and arrange in the bottom of a good solid roasting pan. Sprinkle with a little olive oil and throw in the lemon quarters. Mix all together and season with salt. Place the lamb shoulder on top of the garlic and lemon and roast in the oven for about 25 minutes. Turn the oven down to 130C and roast for a further 3½ hours. Baste occasionally and cover with foil if the harissa begins to burn, but it shouldn’t do at this temperature. The meat will be very tender and soft to the touch when cooked. When the lamb is cooked, turn the oven off with the door slightly ajar and leave the joint inside the cooling oven. Put the plates in to warm.

Peel the cucumber as lightly as possible to retain its greenness. Quarter lengthways and discard the watery seeds. Chop the remaining flesh into 3mm cubes and place in a colander set over the sink. Season with salt, rub the salt in well and leave for half an hour. Put the yoghurt into a mixing bowl and stir in the salted cucumber. Season the yoghurt with a little extra salt and plenty of pepper. Stir in half the chopped mint and a generous squeeze of lemon juice and set aside.

If making well in advance, refrigerate until needed and take out of the fridge shortly before serving. Otherwise it’s fine left at room temperature.

At this stage, start the pilaf and the serving time will be about an hour hence. Peel and finely slice the onions. Take a large heavy pan with a tight-fitting lid and set it over a brisk heat for 2 minutes. Add a generous slurp of vegetable oil, the onions, minced garlic and the sultanas or apricots. Fry this over a high heat, stirring all the while, until the onions begin to soften and catch – 10 minutes or so. Add the ground cumin, allspice, saffron, a heaped teaspoon of harissa and a generous pinch of sugar. Fry this mixture briskly for another 5 minutes, adding a little more oil if necessary, scraping the bottom of the pan as you go.

Add the rice and cook for a further 2–3 minutes, so that all the rice is coated in the spiced onion mixture. Add two or three generous pinches of salt and stir. Add the water. The water will seethe and splutter at first. Cover with the lid and bring back to a simmer. Try not to remove the lid completely to check when this point has been reached, but take a cheeky peek every now and then. The idea is to retain as much steam as possible. When the rice has come back to a simmer, immediately turn the heat down to its lowest setting and leave for exactly 15 minutes. After this time, turn off the heat and leave the rice for at least half an hour without lifting the lid.

When you are ready to serve, remove the lamb from the oven. Lift the lamb on to a carving board and pull the meat from the bone using a knife and fork. Remove the lid from the rice and stir well. Check the seasoning – it will almost certainly need more salt and a good squeeze of lemon juice. Stir in the coriander and remaining mint. Scatter the toasted almonds over and take to the table.

Divide the lamb between the warmed plates, being sure to serve some of the roasted garlic and meaty, red harissa juices. Let folk help themselves to rice and hand the yoghurt around separately.