Moorish lamb stew, moghrabieh pearls, preserved lemon labneh
Ingredients
Moorish lamb stew: 10 garlic cloves, crushed 120 ml extra virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons tomato paste 2 tablespoons freshly cracked black pepper 1 tablespoon salt 4 tablespoons smoked paprika 2 tablespoons ground cumin 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon 4 tablespoons coriander seeds, toasted and crushed 3 kg lamb shoulder 1.5 litres Chicken stock (page 198) 600 g prunes 50 ml red wine vinegar Preserved lemon labneh: 1 teaspoon dried mint 1 teaspoon salt 1½ cups Greek yoghurt skin of ½ preserved lemon ½ cup extra virgin olive oil Moghrabieh pearls: 3 cups Chicken stock (page 198), salted 1 teaspoon caraway seeds 2 cups moghrabieh pearls salt ¼ bunch mint, chopped ½ bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped splash of olive oil
Method
For the Moorish lamb stew, in a food processor blend the garlic, oil, tomato paste, pepper, salt and spices. Score the lamb fat well with a sharp knife, then rub the marinade all over the lamb. Cover and refrigerate overnight, if you have time. If not, leave on the kitchen bench, covered, for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 180ºC. We suggest you chargrill the lamb on the barbecue. If you can’t, seal it in a pan in hot oil instead. Then put the lamb in a baking dish, along with the stock, prunes and vinegar, cover the dish with foil and bake in the oven for 1 hour. Reduce the heat to 140ºC and cook for about 4 hours or until the meat is falling off the bone. At this stage you should have a fairly well reduced amount of pan juices. Pour these out of the pan into a tall thinnish vessel. Remove 80 per cent of the fat from this liquid and discard. (We need to leave some of the fat for flavour and moisture.) Start shredding the lamb, using a couple of forks, and break up the prunes a little. Add the pan juices back in, mix through and season to taste. For the preserved lemon labneh, take a colander and place it over a bowl. Line the colander with muslin cloth. In a bowl, mix the mint and salt into the yoghurt. Place this mixture in the lined colander and leave to drain in the refrigerator overnight. (We prefer to use dried mint instead of fresh because it adds a more complex flavour.) In the morning you will be left with a thickened yoghurt, which is the labneh, and a cloudy liquid whey in the bottom of the bowl. Discard the whey. Finely chop the preserved lemon skin and add this, along with the olive oil, to the strained yoghurt. Set aside. For the moghrabieh pearls, bring the salted chicken stock and caraway seeds to the boil in a saucepan. Add the moghrabieh pearls and simmer for 10 minutes, with the lid on, until tender. Turn off the heat and let stand for a further 5 minutes. Separate the pearls with a fork and season. Add the chopped herbs and a splash of olive oil to finish. To serve, place the shredded lamb in a large serving bowl and top with the herbs and labneh. Serve the moghrabieh pearls on the side.
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