“This is a great family-and-friends dish for a casual Sunday lunch. Prepare the night before and let it cook overnight, slow and low. After a frenetic week it’s a real treat to pull this out of the oven on Sunday and sit down to a flavourful feast. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, there’s leftovers and these should always find themselves in a sandwich the following day with salad leaves and relish.”
– Jeni Glasgow & Reuven Diaz, restaurant owners, Co Meath
Serves 4 with leftovers
INGREDIENTS
Boned & rolled shoulder and neck of lamb (about 2kg)
2 tsp za’atar
Salt and pepper
Gremolata:
3 garlic cloves
50g capers, vinegar drained
100g gherkins, finely chopped
2 bird’s eye chillies, seeds removed, finely chopped
A handful of fresh mint, finely chopped
100ml olive oil
Salad:
1 onion, diced
50ml white balsamic vinegar
300g puy lentils
2 bunches of asparagus, trimmed
200g tripe, cleaned
50g dry-cured pork belly or black bacon
Dressing:
1 garlic clove
A generous pinch of salt
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp sugar
60ml white balsamic vinegar
Juice of half a small lemon
250ml sunflower or rapeseed oil
METHOD
Pre-heat your oven to 90C. Season the lamb with salt, pepper and za’atar and put it on a baking tray. Roast for 12 hours. When you’re nearly ready to eat, turn the oven up to 190C and roast the lamb for another 10 minutes, basting regularly. Remove from oven and allow to rest.
Soak the tripe in cold water overnight. Bring a pan of water to the boil, add the tripe and simmer for 3 hours. When it’s ready, drain and slice into long thin strips.
To make the gremolata, first poach the garlic so you don’t get that really strong kick. The easiest way to do this is to put a whole garlic bulb in cold water, bring it to the boil, take it off and let the garlic sit in the water for another 10-15 minutes. Then just pop out the cloves. Finely dice the garlic and mix it with the gherkins, chillies, capers and mint. Half-cover with oil and set aside.
For the salad dressing, mix the garlic, salt, mustard and sugar together, then add the vinegar, lemon juice and oil and stir well.
Next make the salad. Boil the lentils for 15 minutes in slightly salty water till tender. Meanwhile heat a pan with olive oil, add the onions and fry till soft. Drain the lentils, add them to the onions and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the white balsamic vinegar and allow to cook off. Steam the asparagus spears over boiling water for 4-5 minutes and then refresh with cold water. Thinly slice the cured pork belly.
Spoon the lentils onto a serving dish and top with the tripe, pork belly and asparagus. Add dressing to taste.
Carve thick slices of lamb and serve.
