Michael has become famous in our family with his incredible outdoor wood fired oven set up and as the Spring weather sets in the oven is operating overtime! Michael cooks a beautiful piece of Spring lamb shoulder slowly overnight for 10 hours at a very low heat until it is deliciously succulent. The lamb is shredded and spread between layers of Fillo Pastry which is folded in a concertina fashion to create a Soufra. This is Spring entertaining at its best!
Ingredients
Serves 4
For the slow cooked lamb
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp ground cumin
3 tbsp harissa spice mix
salt and pepper
4 tbsp olive oil
1.8 kg lamb shoulder
1 brown onion, roughly sliced
4 tomatoes, diced
For the soufra
1 packet Antoniou Fillo Pastry
olive oil or melted butter, for brushing
¼ cups pine nuts, toasted
fresh mint leaves
400 g labneh
1 tsp harissa spice mix
Recipe tips
Wood fire oven vs conventional oven
Michael prepares this recipe in his wood fire oven, however this recipe has been written for a conventional oven.
Method
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Combine the garlic, cumin, harissa spice mix, salt, pepper and olive oil in a bowl. Rub all over the lamb shoulder and place in an oven dish. Add the onions and tomatoes to the dish
Cover your dish tightly with foil and place in the oven for approximately 4 hours or until the lamb falls easily off the bone.
Take your Filo Pastry out of the fridge to allow it come up to room temperature in its packaging while the lamb is cooking.
Once the lamb is cooked, allow it to cool slightly before shredding it into small pieces. Add some of the tomatoes and onions to the lamb mixture.
Assembling the soufra
Take one sheet of Filo Pastry and place on a clean bench, the shorter edge facing you. Brush liberally with olive oil and place another sheet on top. Then brush the top sheet with olive oil.
Scatter approximately two tablespoons of the lamb filling across the Filo Pastry. Be sure not to overfill the Fillo too much. Start at the bottom of the Fillo sheet, scrunching away from you to gather the Fillo sheet in an accordion like fashion.
Pick up the folded sheet and place in the centre of the baking tray. Begin turning it onto itself to form the centre of the spiral. Repeat with the remaining sheets and filling, adding to the outside of the centre spiral until the tray is full.
Brush the entire soufra with olive oil and cook for 35-40 minutes until golden brown. Garnish with toasted pine nuts and fresh mint.
Mix one teaspoon of harissa spice mix into the labneh, drizzle with olive oil and serve with the soufra.