Lamb Schawarma

I enjoyed last week's beautiful weather on a course in Shepherd's Bush, a multicultural area of London with lots of middle eastern and Mediterranean cafés. With holidays and hot weather in mind, I decided to cook this delicious middle eastern dish that a friend suggested to me, using Andrew's extremely local Bridge Farm Lamb. The name Schawarma simply refers to meat that has been marinaded in spices, grilled, then sliced to be served as a kebab in a pitta. It tastes delicious and is perfect cooked on a traditional Weber barbecue that gives the meat a unique, slightly smokey flavour. Most recipes use leg of lamb but I chose shoulder, as it is less money per kilo than the leg, and because of the marbling has slightly more flavour. The whole shoulder you see below was later boned out (which the butchers will be happy to do for you!) so that it laid flat on the BBQ and was easier to carve.

Ingredients: 

1 Whole Boned Lamb Shoulder (Serves 4-6) 

2 Garlic Cloves Crushed 

100 ml Olive Oil  

Handful of Fresh Coriander Finely Chopped 

Tsp Ground Paprika 

Tsp Ground Cumin

Tsp Ground Allspice

Tsp Dried Oregano 

Juice and Zest of One Lemon 

Salt and Pepper 

NB: I kept my spice mix quite simple, but you could add some ground ginger, ground cinnamon, cayenne pepper or turmeric as you wish, to enrich the flavour. The key to this dish is also in the amount of time you leave the meat to marinate. Overnight is optimum although the morning before you eat is ok too. 

To make the marinade simply add the coriander and garlic to the lemon juice and olive oil in a bowl and mix until the garlic starts to turn the mixture slightly cloudy. Then add your spices and seasoning and mix. On the skin side of the lamb make some incisions all over with a sharp knife. Pour over your boned out lamb shoulder and massage the marinade into the meat making sure it is thoroughly covered. Leave in a covered bowl in the fridge until you are ready to cook. 

Once your barbecue is hot, place the lamb on the grill leaving the lid on to keep the heat in (but with the vents open). Boned out, the lamb should take 45 minutes, and should be turned over mid way through. You could of course cook this in the oven but it tastes so much better on the barbecue!!! Serve with lettuce, tzatsiki and warmed pittas to remain traditional or any other accompaniments that you would prefer. For example, my dad has to have a gluten-free diet so I also made up a lovely rice dish with red pepper, red onion, sweetcorn and herbs for him to have instead of the pitta breads. If there are only four of you, the lamb is also amazing cold the next day, I am eating some now as I write this!