Slow-cooked Shoulder of Lamb with Saffron

Lamb is the ideal meal for Easter. This recipe uses a shoulder of lamb which has a lot of flavour and is more economical to buy than a leg. Imagine the meat slow-cooked to absorb all the flavours of the ingredients added and falling off the bone, melts in your mouth when you eat it. Serves 6.

1.2kg shoulder of lamb cut into 6 pieces
6 small red onions peeled and cut into half
12 peeled baby carrots
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
grated rind of 2 lemons
juice of 1 lemon
3 bay leaves
2T honey
2 pinches saffron or 1t cumin
1T plain flour
1 litre vegetable stock
2T freshly chopped mint to serve
500g new potatoes

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Place the lamb and garlic in the oven for 20 minutes. Turn the lamb and reduce the oven to 160C. Add the onions, carrots, lemon juice and rind, bay leaves, stock, honey, saffron and flour. Cook for 10 minutes. Stir and add the stock and bones from the shoulder (this adds flavour to the dish). Cover with foil and cook for 3 hours in the oven. Remove the bones and serve the lamb together with the pan juices which make a lovely gravy.
Boil the new potatoes and cover them in butter and fresh mint.