Now I call this a weekday meal as it is super quick and easy to prepare. I always spend longer on things of a weekend, when one has the luxury of more time at hand.

So this is a stick in the slow cooker before you go to work meal. Five minutes in the morning for unbelievable rewards when you return. Leave it on auto for 8-10 hours and when you come home, whatever time you want to eat, you just need to knock up a quick bit of salad and a cheeky flatbread and you’re good to go.

Ingredients:

Lamb (either one shank per person or half a shoulder between two)

1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, coriander, cinnamon, chilli

One chopped clove of garlic

2 tbsp butter, softened

Sprig of fresh rosemary 

One orange

Method:

Mix your butter with the spices and garlic and a little salt and pepper.

Cover the meat in the rub and place straight into the slow cooker

Chop an orange and sit around the meat with a couple of rosemary sprigs

  

Leave to do its thing while you head off to work and come home to luciously cooked lamb, with a house full of middle eastern spicy goodness. The meat will fall off of the bone as you take it out of the pot. I’m talking leaving this for 8-10 hours. 

  

Serve with a homemade wholemeal flatbread scraped with harissa paste,  a little shredded lettuce and onion. Add some plain yoghurt with cucumber and mint and enjoy!

  

Can also be enjoyed on a bed of couscous with some apricots and pistachios. Delicious!

For the vegetarians, I would suggest my homemade falafel (also ready in minutes) as an alternative – can also be served with either of the options above.