Autumn’s creeping in, the nights are drawing closer, and you know what that means – the return of the Sunday roast. For some people, the roast is basically holy ground. Rules carved in stone: one big joint of meat in the middle of the table, golden roasties, sweet parsnips, Yorkshires (which really should count as a vegetable), and enough gravy to need its own lifeboat. And of course, it must be eaten on a Sunday. Always. No exceptions.
But here’s the thing – rules are made to be bent. Love Lamb Week feels like the perfect time to celebrate lamb in all its glory and maybe shake things up a bit while we’re at it.
This recipe takes a gorgeous joint of lamb and gives it a rub-down with Ras El Hanout – a North African spice mix that’s basically autumn in a jar. Think warming notes of pepper, ginger, paprika, nutmeg, clove… depending on the blend, you’ll get layers of flavour that make the lamb sing.
Then there’s smoky aubergine on the side. Charred on the hob until the skin’s blackened, scooped out and mashed into a rough purée. It’s rich, earthy, and the perfect partner to that sweet lamb.
And forget the mint sauce in a jar – we’re talking fresh mint, garlic, cumin, and red wine vinegar. Zingy, punchy, and a proper upgrade to the usual stuff.
Of course, we’re not messing with the essentials – roast potatoes, parsnips, Yorkshires, and gravy are non-negotiable. This recipe will give you all of that, just with an extra bit of flair.
So for Love Lamb Week, why not give your Sunday roast a seasonal twist? It’s warming, it’s celebratory, and it’s guaranteed to get everyone around the table asking for seconds (and more gravy).
Ingredients - serves 6 to 8 people
1 lamb shoulder (approx. 2.5kg)
3tbs Ras El Hanout
25ml oil
3 red onions, peeled and thinly sliced
3 bay leaves
3 aubergines
1 lemon, halved
Sea salt and cracked black pepper, to season
For the hot mint sauce
4tbs extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled and grated with a microplane
1 large bunch of mint, leaves picked and roughly chopped
1tsp cumin seeds
2tbs red wine vinegar
Sea salt and cracked black pepper, to season
Method
First, heat your oven to 140°C and place the onions and bay leaves into a small roasting tray.
Coat and rub the Ras El Hanout all over the lamb and add just a drizzle of oil to help get it mixed right into the meat. You could also do this the night before and cover to marinate in the fridge.
Place the lamb top so that it fits neatly inside the tray and cover and seal with some strong foil.
Slow roast in the oven for up to 4 hours and then towards the end, take out the oven and turn the oven up to 200°C. Remove the foil and place the joint back into the oven for 20 minutes to crisp up the skin. The goal here is to ensure that the meat is tender and soft but not quite falling apart. Remove the lamb, leave to rest and put the tray with the onions to one side.
To make the smoked aubergine, fire up the rings on your hob and pierce the aubergines with a fork and place them straight on top. Turn them as the skins begin to crisp and blacken and keep going for about 20 minutes, until the aubergine begins to collapse and softens. Put to one side and leave to cool. If you don’t have a gas hob, you can also do this under a grill or over coals on a BBQ - if you fancy firing it up.
Once cool, cut the aubergines in half and scoop out the flesh onto the board and remove the skins. Then roughly chop and place into a saucepan, ready to reheat.
To make the hot mint sauce, place a small saucepan over a medium heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and fry for a minute until it begins to turn golden, stirring all the while. Then add half of the chopped mint leaves and the cumin and cook for another minute before adding the red wine vinegar and cook through for a further 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and then add the remaining mint and check for seasoning. Keep warm.
When ready to eat, put the tray with the onions and lamb juices back onto the hob and heat through. Also gently warm the smoked aubergine and add a squeeze of lemon juice and seasoning. Then simply pull all the bones from the shoulder of lamb, slice in half and then slice into decent chunks to portion up.
To serve, spoon a good amount of the smoked aubergine into the centre of the plate and add a generous portion of the lamb shoulder on top, followed by a drizzle of the onion gravy. Finish with a spoonful of the hot mint sauce and serve with roast potatoes, parsnips and seasonal greens.
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