Braised lamb shoulder with fennel and orange

Main Christmas

Serves 6-8

Prep 30 min

Cook 5 hr

Marinate 3 hr - overnight

If marinating overnight, make sure to take the lamb out at least one to two hours to come to room temperature before cooking. This is a great celebration centrepiece. With little hands on time. Ideal for entertaining.

Ingredients

1	whole lamb shoulder (2.5kg), fat lightly scored with a sharp knife
2	fennel bulbs (900g), cut in 4 wedges each
1	head of garlic, 1cm trimmed from the top to expose the cloves
3	red onions (400g), cut in 4 wedges
1	red chilli, split in half (deseeded if you like less heat)
1	orange, cut in quarters
2	cinnamon sticks
4	bay leaves
2	sprigs of rosemary
1L	chicken stock
MARINADE
2 tbsp	coriander seeds, coarsely crushed in a pestle and mortar
2 tbsp	ground cumin
2 ½ tsp	ground cinnamon
60ml	olive oil
100g	tomato paste
1	orange zest (orange reserved for the salsa)
SALSA
2	large orange (use 1 orange from the marinade), peeled and sliced in ½ cm thick rounds
25g	picked coriander
25g	picked mint
	fine sea salt and black pepper

Method

Place the fennel, garlic, onion, chilli, orange, cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, rosemary and chicken stock in a large high-sided baking dish.
Next, mix all the marinade ingredients in a large bowl with 3 teaspoons of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Rub the marinade all over the lamb and place on top of the veg. Marinate refrigerated overnight or for at least 3 hours at room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 160C.
Cover tightly with foil. Cook for 4 ½ hours until the lamb is tender and the vegetables have softened. Remove the dish from the oven and increase the heat to 200C.
Set the foil aside for later. Baste the lamb and return to the oven for 30 minutes, basting every 10 minutes until nicely coloured. Remove from the oven, cover with the reserved foil and set aside to rest for 30 minutes before serving.
Meanwhile, make the salsa. Mix all the ingredients for the salsa and set aside.
Place the lamb and vegetables on a serving platter, and serve with the juices and the salsa in bowls alongside.