I served this dish up at a girls night in recently and it went down a storm. It’s a lovely lighter take on roast lamb which is great as part of a mezze feast or for a spring-time Sunday lunch. Don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients – it’s super simple to make, and takes very little effort.

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 shoulder of lamb (approx 2kg)

For the marinate 

4 cloves garlic

4 tbsp pomegranate molasses

4 tbsp honey

4 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp cumin

2 tbsp smoked paprika

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

For the salad

50g pistachio kernels

2 packs lambs lettuce

75g feta cheese

bunch of fresh mint

1 small pack pomegranate seeds

For the dressing

2 tbsp pomegranate molasses

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

For the yogurt

250g Greek yogurt

1 tbsp harissa

1 tbsp mint sauce

Flatbreads to serve

Method

First, marinate the lamb. Crush the garlic into a small bowl, add the rest of the marinate ingredients and whisk together. Cut small slits all over the joint, put it into a large casserole dish or roasting tin and pour over the marinate. Rub it into the meat with your hands, then cover with the casserole lid or foil and put in the fridge for a good 6-8 hours or overnight.

When the lamb has marinated, heat the oven to 200. Make sure the meat is covered with the casserole lid, or cover the roasting tin tightly with foil, and put it in the oven. Immediately turn the temperature down to 140 and leave to slow roast for 4 hours – basting with the juices every hour or so.

When the lamb is soft and falling away from the bone, remove it from the oven and set aside to rest while you assemble the salad.

Heat a dry frying pan and gently toast the pistachios, then roughly chop them.  Put the lambs lettuce into a large dish, then chop the feta and mint, and set aside.

Whisk together all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl.

Put the yogurt in another small dish, and stir through the harissa and mint sauce.

Remove the lamb from the casserole dish or roasting tin, and shred apart into pieces with two forks or your fingers.

Scatter the lamb over the leaves, and sprinkle over the feta, mint, pomegranate seeds and pistachios. Serve with the dressing and yogurt on the side – along with some warm flatbreads.