Chermoula lamb shoulder with garlic and tahini yoghurt

The more time you give this Moroccan spice marinade to permeate the meat, the better the end result. Leave it overnight if you can and the wait will be worth your while.

Chermoula lamb shoulder with garlic and tahini yoghurt Credit: Smith Street Books

• serves

  4-6

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  55 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 kg (2 lb 3 oz) butterflied boneless lamb shoulder
• chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves, to serve
• chopped flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, to serve

Chermoula

• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 small onion, roughly chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 cm (¾ in) ginger, finely grated
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1 cup coriander (cilantro) leaves, roughly chopped
• 1 cup flat-leaf (Italian) parsley leaves, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• 125 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) extra-virgin olive oil

Garlic & tahini yoghurt

• 125 g (4½ oz/½ cup) Greek-style yoghurt
• juice of ½ lemon
• 1 tbsp tahini
• 1 small garlic clove, crushed
• ¼ tsp ground cumin
• sea salt flakes

Marinating time: 2 hours-overnight

Resting time: 1 hour

Instructions

To make the chermoula, toast the cumin and coriander in a small dry frying pan over medium heat for about 2 minutes until fragrant. Transfer to a food processor along with the remaining ingredients. Process until well combined.

Rub the chermoula all over the lamb shoulder, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.

Remove the lamb from the refrigerator 1 hour before cooking.

Preheat a hooded barbecue grill to medium–high and lightly grease with oil.

Cook the lamb skin-side down for 15 minutes. Turn and cook for a further 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and cook for a further 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover with foil and rest for 10 minutes.

To make yoghurt sauce, combine the ingredients in a small bowl.

Slice the lamb thinly, drizzle with the sauce and garnish with herbs to serve.

Recipe from Feed The Man Meat (Smith Street Books).

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.