This is Olia Hercules’ go-to meal for dinner parties.

“The marinade ingredients might sound fusion-y and improbable, but they work so well,” she says. “When you pull the lamb and mix it through the marinade juices, it’s just incredible. This recipe is fantastic for using up tired, soft fridge-forgotten herbs: feel free to use any, such as parsley, chives and basil.

“Serve it with any grain, too – I like couscous or freekeh – but any slightly plain carb that can soak up the sauce is good: rice, boiled and crushed potatoes, flatbreads… You name it. Lamb shanks or pork or beef ribs will also work here if you want something smaller or cheaper than a lamb shoulder!”

Lamb shoulder with herbs and preserved lemons recipe

Ingredients:(Serves 6-8)

3 garlic cloves, peeled1tbsp soy sauce½tbsp honey15g finely grated ginger (I don’t bother peeling it, but that’s up to you)1½tsp ground coriander seeds1½tsp ground cumin seedsLeaves from ½ small bunch of mintLeaves from ½ small bunch of tarragon½ small bunch of dill, leaves and stalks½ small bunch of coriander, leaves and stalks1tbsp olive oil1 preserved lemon, chopped1 shoulder of lamb (2kg), or 4 lamb shanksSea salt

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C fan. Put all the ingredients (bar a handful of soft herbs and the lamb) into a food processor, add half a teaspoon of salt and blitz them up into a paste. Cover the lamb with it. If you can leave it in the marinade overnight, all the better, but if you don’t have time, it is ready to be baked straight away.

2. Put the lamb and marinade into a cast-iron pan and cover it with a lid. Otherwise, especially if you are using a shoulder, you can also use a roasting tin and cover it tightly with a foil tent (just use two large pieces of foil and tent them over the meat without touching it). Cook for 30 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 160°C fan and cook for another two hours. Then lift the lid or foil off and have a look. The meat should be soft and coming away from the bone. If it is not quite there, cover it again and put it back in for another 30 minutes. Be careful not to dry out the lamb and keep checking, as a shoulder can take up to three-and-a-half hours.

3. Take the lamb out of the oven, cover and rest in its juices for at least 20 minutes.

4. Pull the meat off the bone, discard the bones and large bits of fat, roughly shred larger pieces, then return to the tin. Taste, it may need a light sprinkling of salt.

5. If the lamb has been resting a while, you can pop it and the juices in the roasting tin under a hot grill to warm through and crisp up the meat on top.

6. Of course you can shred the lamb and mix it with the juices up to a day before and keep in the fridge, then just reheat in a lidded pan with a splash of water mixed in, or in a foil baking tray, before serving. Serve with any plain grain you fancy, or even crushed boiled potatoes, sprinkling over the reserved herbs.

Home Food: Recipes To Comfort And Connect by Olia Hercules is published by Bloomsbury Publishing, priced £26. Photography by Joe Woodhouse. Available now.