Serves 4
200g pitted black olives, drained
A large handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves
4 anchovies, drained
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp sumac
1 tsp Turkish pepper flakes or smoked paprika
2 tsp dried oregano
4 tbsp olive oil, plus a little extra for brushing
Juice of 1 lemon
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2kg shoulder of lamb, on the bone
1 Put the olives, parsley, anchovies, garlic, sumac, pepper flakes or paprika, oregano and oil into a food processor or blender. Add the lemon juice and season with salt and black pepper. Blend into a coarse paste.
2 Put the lamb in a roasting tray. Scoop out the paste and rub it all over the lamb. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
3 Preheat the oven to 230C/Gas 8 and get the meat out of the fridge to come to room temperature. Brush the lamb with a little oil. Pour in 150ml cold water and cover with wet baking paper. Cover the lamb with foil and place in the oven. Reduce the heat to 170C/Gas 3 and roast for 3-3½ hours, or until tender. When you stick two forks into the deepest part of the meat it should pull apart really easily.
Advertisement
4 To serve, scrape off the paste from the surface of the meat and set aside. Discard any fat and fork apart the lamb. Pour off any excess fat from the roasting tray and return the lamb. Add the paste, mix together and serve immediately.
Recipe extracted from Turkish Delights, published by Kyle Books. Buy from the Times Bookshop for £15.99 (RRP £19.99), free p&p, on 0845 2712134; timesbooks.co.uk