Pickling lemons is the perfect way to ensure you can use them all year round. Add pickled lemon to a slow-roasted dish in winter or chop into small pieces and add to a salad to zing it up. For this lamb dish, I have used just the zest. Because pickled lemons are soft you will have to use a small sharp knife to take off the zest. Remove any excess fat from the lamb shoulder. It is very hard to overcook the meat; just ensure there is plenty of liquid in the dish and add a little extra if needed.
Lamb
| 1 kg | Lamb shoulder (Main) |
| 1 Tbsp | Oil |
| 15 g | Butter |
| 1 large | Onion, chopped roughly |
| 1 | Orange, freshly zested |
| ¼ tsp | Saffron, dissolved in 2 Tbsp warm water |
| ½ tsp | Cinnamon |
| ½ tsp | Fresh ginger |
| ¼ tsp | Cayenne pepper |
| ¼ tsp | Paprika |
| 2 | Bay leaves |
| 1 cup | Chicken stock |
| 1 | Lemon, use the rind of 1 pickled lemon, see recipe below |
| 150 g | Pitted green olives |
| ¼ cup | Fresh parsley, chopped |
Pickled lemons
| 8 small | Lemons |
| 250 g | Salt |
| 2 | Bay leaves |
| 10 | Allspice berries |
| 10 | Coriander seeds |
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Directions
Lamb
- Preheat oven to 180C. Remove any excess fat from lamb and cut into four chunks.
- Heat butter and oil in a frying pan on a medium heat. Add onions and orange zest and cook 4-5 minutes, until softened.
- Season lamb with salt and pepper, then brown on all sides in frying pan. Place into an ovenproof dish.
- Add saffron, cinnamon, ginger, cayenne, paprika and bay leaves. Mix to coat meat in spices. Add stock. Cover and roast for 1½ hours or until meat is tender. Check the juices don't run dry; add a little water if necessary.
- Add lemon rind and olives for the last 15 minutes.
- Serve with hot rice, sprinkled with parsley.
Pickled lemons
- Cut four lemons into quarters, cutting not quite through to the bottom.
- Using half the salt, sprinkle inside lemons generously. Squash them into a clean preserving jar along with bay leaves, allspice and coriander seeds.
- Squeeze juice of remaining lemons and pour into jar, along with remaining salt. Seal jar. Turn daily for the first week. Ideally leave up to a month before using, but can be used after one week.
