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SLOW COOKED LAMB WITH ZATAR AND FRESH FIGS

A real treat for a dinner party or Sunday roast

  • 2.5 – 3kg leg of lamb (ask your butcher to remove the bone and “butterfly” the meat into a wide, flat slab – if he doesn’t know how, you’ve got the wrong butcher!)
  • 2 jars Arabica Zat’ar spice mix
  • 8 fresh figs
  • 100g honey
  • 10 cloves garlic (peeled and roughly chopped)
  • 150g olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper (coarsely ground)

Serves 4 -6 hungry adults

Place the Zat’ar, honey, olive oil and garlic together in a bowl and mix thoroughly to make a thick marinade paste.Slice the fresh figs to make 4 discs from each one.

Lay the butterflied lamb skin down and score about halfway through the surface of the meat with a very sharp knife, making sure not to cut right through.
Add the marinade and massage it over the surface and deep into the score marks with your fingers to get that rich, Za’tar, garlic, honey flavour deep into the meat. Lay out the fig slices across the massaged meat, keeping them in from the sides. Gently roll the meat and tie tightly with butcher’s string to form a firm, rolled roasting joint. Wrap this with cooking foil to create a tightly sealed parcel. Alternatively, if you don’t have any butcher’s string or didn’t get your knotting badge in the Scouts use a double layer of strong foil and tightly wrap the joint. Leave the parcel to marinade for at least two hours at room temperature or preferably overnight in the fridge, taking it out two hours before you start cooking.

Pre-heat your oven to 160 degrees centigrade (310 degrees Fahrenheit or Gas Mark 3).  Place the lamb in and cook for 3 1/4 hours then cut open the top of the parcel and leave to cook for a further 30 mins.

The lamb will be falling apart – The figs and honey will of added a beautiful sweet edge to the dish while the Zat’ar will have added a strong aroma of wild thyme with the additional nuttiness from the toasted sesame seeds.

Serve to friends with a creamy mash potato to soak up all the wonderful flavours of the lamb with some steamed greens such as curly kale.

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