The Zahav Lamb Shoulder Reimagined

The Zahav Lamb Shoulder Reimagined as The Alya Leg of Lamb, thanks The Splendid Table for the recipe!

It’s no secret that I love Zahav. It’s my favorite restaurant in Philadelphia if not the US but, what I love the most, is their lamb shoulder. I’ve made it a few times & quarantine seemed like the perfect opportunity to perfect it. Michael Solomonov smokes his lamb shoulder at Percy Street Barbecue but since I don’t have a smoker, I’ll be roasting my leg of lamb according to this recipe. Aside from fennel seeds which I don’t care for, I happen to have all of the ingredients. So, let’s do this!

• Generous 1/4 cup Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon allspice berries
• 1 head garlic, halved crosswise
• 1 cup dried chickpeas
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 bone-in square-cut lamb shoulder (about 5 pounds)
• 1/2 cup pomegranate molasses
• Persian Rice, optional

Combine the salt with the sugar, fennel seeds, peppercorns, allspice, garlic and about 2 quarts water in a large pot. Bring to a rapid boil, stirring to dissolve the salt. Remove from the heat and allow the brine to cool completely.

Combine the chickpeas with the baking soda in a large bowl and cover with water by several inches. Let soak overnight.

Put the lamb shoulder in a large (6- to 8-quart) container and pour the brine over the lamb. (Ideally, the lamb shoulder should be submerged, so weight it with two plates. But if that’s impractical, cover the lamb with a clean cloth that’s saturated in the brine.) Refrigerate the lamb shoulder in the brine overnight or up to 48 hours.

TOMORROW…

Preheat the oven to 475°F. Place a rack on a baking sheet. Drain the lamb and pat dry. Put the lamb on the rack and roast until well browned on the exterior, about 30 minutes. (Or sear the lamb over a medium-hot grill for 15 minutes until well browned on all sides and nicely charred in places.) Lower the oven to 300°F.

Transfer the lamb shoulder to a large roasting pan. Mix the pomegranate molasses with 8 cups water in a bowl and add to the pan. (The liquid should come about halfway up the shoulder; add water if needed.) Drain the chickpeas and add them to the liquid. Place a sheet of parchment paper over the lamb and cover the pan tightly with foil.

Braise in the oven until the lamb shreds easily with a fork and the chickpeas are tender, about 5 hours. Let the lamb cool in its braising liquid in the refrigerator overnight.

FOLLOWING DAY…

The next day, preheat the oven to 475 °F. Roast the lamb, uncovered, spooning the braising liquid over the lamb every 5 minutes, until the lamb is hot through and glazed with the liquid, about 30 minutes. Serve with crispy Persian rice if you like.

Pomegranate Molasses

I grew up in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku therefore, this and lamb were a staple. If you don’t know what it is, pomegranate molasses is the juice of pomegranate seeds mixed with sugar and reduced to a thick syrup until it’s almost candy-like, at once very sweet and very sour from the astringency of pomegranates’ natural tannins. It is an important ingredient in Middle Eastern cooking, especially Persian cuisine. I grew up using it for lamb shashlik, lyulya kebob and any other lamb dish my parents would serve. Lamb was a big part of my upbringing which could explain my obsession with it.

I’ll be serving my Leg of Lamb over rice with pomegranate molasses…You?