Lamb shoulder with apricot sauce in a Roman pot

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 1 lamb shoulder(s) with bone (approx. 800 g)
• 1 tsp spice mix (Baharat)
• ½ tsp harissa
• 200 g apricot(s), dried
• 2 onions
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 lemon(s), untreated

Instructions

Working time approx. 15 minutes; Rest time approx. 45 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes; Total time approx. 2 hours 30 minutes

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Pour boiling water over the dried apricots until they are covered and let soak for 30 minutes. Cover the Römertopf with water in the sink for about 20 minutes to soak it in. In the meantime, season the lamb shoulder with baharat, harissa, and salt. Peel and roughly chop the onions and garlic. Add a little more water to the apricots (about 600 ml in total) and puree together with the onions and garlic. Pour some of the apricot sauce into the Römertopf, place the prepared lamb shoulder on top, and pour over the remaining sauce. Spread the sauce so that the entire lamb shoulder is covered. Put the lid on and place the Römertopf in a cold oven, heat to 190°C (top/bottom heat), and roast for 90 minutes. Then turn off the oven and let the meat rest in the Römertopf for another 15 minutes. Remove the meat from the apricot sauce, cut it into pieces, and puree the sauce again. Personally, I found the sauce too fruity and a bit too thick. Next time, I’ll use fewer apricots and maybe some celery and carrot to make it less fruity. Nevertheless, the combination of lamb and apricot sauce, along with the spices, was very good and simply a different flavor. I’ll definitely make it again. Rice or couscous is a good side dish. This time, I only had steamed cauliflower because I wanted to cut down on carbohydrates due to the apricot sauce. This combination, too—although rather random—was really delicious; the cauliflower benefited from the fruity, spicy sauce.