Pickled lemon lamb

Babiche Martens

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

Directions

Lamb

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Remove any excess fat from lamb and cut into four chunks.
2. Heat butter and oil in a frying pan on a medium heat. Add onions and orange zest and cook 4-5 minutes, until softened.
3. Season lamb with salt and pepper, then brown on all sides in frying pan. Place into an ovenproof dish.
4. 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.
5. Add lemon rind and olives for the last 15 minutes.
6. Serve with hot rice, sprinkled with parsley.

Pickled lemons

1. Cut four lemons into quarters, cutting not quite through to the bottom.
2. Using half the salt, sprinkle inside lemons generously. Squash them into a clean preserving jar along with bay leaves, allspice and coriander seeds.
3. 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.