Recipe: five hour lamb with tomato, mint and labne

So here's the five-hour slow roasted lamb that I was talking about.  A version of this recipe was first cooked for me five years ago by my friend, Heather, and I've been cooking it regularly ever since.  It's not a freezer recipe but I'm sure you'll forgive me!

This is one of my favourite meals for entertaining as so much can be done in advance and you can't go wrong with the lamb as it cooks and cooks and cooks until it's literally falling apart.  Even though I've been cooking for years I still can't master a simple roast beef or roast lamb.  I either overcook it or undercook it.  But with this recipe the lamb MUST be overcooked to get that fall-apart texture.  No more guess work!

Also, I love that it's served on a big platter in the middle of the table so that everyone helps themselves.  And when everyone has had enough they'll still continue to pick at it as it's too good to leave alone.

Enjoy!



Five-hour slow roasted lamb with tomato, mint and labne

Labne is a super-thick yoghurt, like a soft cheese.  It's dead set easy to make, just allow 24 hours for it to drain in the fridge.

Labne

1kg tub of plain Greek yoghurt

1 small clove garlic, crushed

Pinch sea salt

Lamb

1-1.2 kg shoulder of lamb (1 large or 2 small shoulders)

1 or 2 cloves garlic

Olive oil

salt and pepper

small handful fresh rosemary, leaves chopped

Other ingredients

1 large bag of baby spinach leaves

1 punnet of cherry tomatoes

large handful of fresh mint

1/2 small red onion

To serve: roast potatoes

24 hours in advance:

Place a clean hanky or cheesecloth/chux cloth in a sieve and place over a bowl.  Tip the yoghurt into the seive and leave in the fridge for about 24 hours – the longer the better.  From time to time pour out the liquid that is caught in the bowl.

1-2 hrs before serving: Place the super-thick yoghurt (now called labne) in a bowl and add garlic and salt and stir to combine.  Leave in the fridge until required.

5 hours in advance:

Preheat oven to 140C.

Cut slits into the lamb and push a sliver of garlic into each slit, then place the lamb in a large baking dish.  Scatter rosemary, salt and pepper over the lamb, drizzle with a little more oil then rub the rosemary/salt/pepper over the lamb.

Place in oven and cook uncovered for two hours.  After two hours there may be some liquid fat in the tray so pour it out into a throwaway container. 

Pour some water in the tray (about ¼ to ½ cup) then cover with foil.  Return to oven and cook for another three hours.  Check from time to time to make sure there’s some water in the bottom of the tray, top up if necessary.

After five hours: pour out any excess liquid from the pan, leaving 1-2 tablesp so that the meat stays moist.  Use two forks to shred the meat, ignoring any fatty/grissly bits which you can throw away.

Other ingredients: a few hours before serving you can prepare the other ingredients and store them in individual bowls/bags ready for the final assembly. 

cherry tomatoes - cut in half

red onion - slice thinly

mint leaves - wash and pick the leaves

baby spinach - wash

To serve

Place baby spinach on a large platter then top with shredded lamb, tomatoes, mint and onion.  Spoon dollops of labne over the top.  Put remaining labne in a bowl for the table.

Serve with roasted potatoes. 

Serves: 4