Neck of lamb is an extremely tender piece of meat that, as the name suggests, is cut from the neck.
It’s one of the tastiest parts of the lamb because it’s so well streaked. The fat between the muscles ensures that the meat has a lot of flavor and is juicy. The neck is usually cut into slices or fillets, but it can, of course, also be cooked as a whole.
The meat often still contains a bone, but your butcher can certainly cut this out for you. Or you could choose to cook it with the bone on the barbecue, which gives even more flavor to the meat. Keep in mind that the preparation will take significantly longer.
Neck of lamb is ideal for slow cooking and that is what we are going to do here. First, we marinate the meat with mustard and herbs and then we let it cook indirectly until it has reached the desired core temperature.
Slow cooked lamb neck served as a pita
Ingredients
- 800 grams boneless lamb neck
- 4 tsp smooth mustard
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 2 tbsp ras el hanout
- 8 artisan pita breads
- ½ red onion
- ¼ iceberg lettuce finely chopped
- 1 red pointy bell pepper
- ½ jalapeno pepper
- 4 tbsp spicy sambal sauce
Instructions
- Place the neck of lamb in an ovenproof dish and add the mustard and spices. Massage the meat with the mustard and spices and place it in the refrigerator overnight to let it marinate well.
- The next day, prepare the barbecue for indirect cooking at a temperature of about 110 degrees Celsius. Place the dish with the marinated neck of lamb in the barbecue and close the lid. Let it smoke for about an hour, turning the meat once in between.
- Insert a core thermometer into the meat and set it to 54 degrees Celsius. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and continue to cook it gently until the temperature is reached.
- Meanwhile, bake the pita breads and roughly chop the bell pepper. Cut thin rings of the red onion and finely slice the pepper. Then, chop the iceberg lettuce finely.
- Remove the meat from the barbecue, let it rest for another 10 minutes and then cut it into thin slices.
- Cut the sandwiches open and fill them with the finely chopped iceberg lettuce and bell pepper. Spoon in a little of the sauce and fill the buns with the finely chopped lamb.
- Finish the pita breads with onion rings, slices of jalapeno pepper and a little of the sambal sauce.
