Lamb barbacoa

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Ingredients

½ cup Woolworths beef broth
5 cloves garlic, crushed
2 T apple cider vinegar
2 T lime juice
1 T dried oregano
2 t ground cumin
2 bay leaves
1 T smoked paprika
2–3 drops Woolworths hickory liquid smoke extract
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2.4 kg free-range leg of lamb
For the ash bread:
2 T dried yeast
50 g sugar
1 cup warm water
1⁄3 cup canola oil
1 free-range egg
2 t salt
400–450 g flour
For olive-and-parsley salsa, toss:
10 g parsley, roughly chopped
100 g pitted green olives, roughly chopped
10 g anchovies, roughly chopped
1 lemon, zested and juiced
2 T olive oil
salt, to taste

Cooking Instructions

1. Place the beef broth, garlic, vinegar, lime juice, oregano, cumin, bay leaves, paprika, smoke extract and seasoning in a blender and blend until smooth. Cover the lamb in this mixture and marinate overnight or for at least 5 hours.

2. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Wrap the lamb very tightly in baking paper and foil, reduce the oven’s temperature to 150°C and roast for 4–6 hours.

3. To make the ash bread, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water, then allow to stand for 5 minutes. Add the oil, egg, salt and flour and knead until smooth. Place in an oiled bowl and allow to rise for an hour, or until doubled in size. Knock down the dough, portion into smaller balls and roll out.

4. Braai the bread over very hot coals for about 30 seconds on each side.

5. Serve the lamb warm with the salsa and ash bread

Cook's note: Barbacoa is a Mexican dish made with beef, goat or lamb and is traditionally cooked in a hole dug in the ground and covered with agave leaves, or slow-cooked over an open fire. If you are fresh out of agave leaves, wrapping the meat tightly in baking paper and foil works just as well, resulting in tender, pull-apart meat.

Find more lamb recipes here.

Photographs: Andrea Van Der Spuy
Food assistants: Bianca Strydom and Irinja Bekker