Lamb with Roasted Rhubarb Couscous

I would lose points on Masterchef for the splashes on the plate.

I decided to put my pressure cooker through its paces by cooking a pot roast. Sure, it can cook soup or curry but what about a rolled shoulder of lamb? I had some rhubarb and pomegranate, so I thought I'd attempt a middle-eastern inspired meal. I say attempted because a certain very small person didn't want to go to bed, so not much effort went into cooking.


I started by browning the lamb all over in the pressure cooker pot, then taking it out while I browned some carrot, celeriac and onions (a mirepoix, as the french call it!). To this I added some chicken stock, pomegranate juice, garlic, a bit of red wine, cumin seed and coriander root. Then the lamb was put back in, and the lid on the pressure cooker at high pressure for 30 minutes.


While this was cooking, I mixed the rhubarb with a tablespoon each of sugar and olive oil. This went onto a baking tray and into the oven for 15 minutes until it was cooked but not falling apart. This was then mixed into the cooked couscous with crumbled fetta, some fresh coriander, olive oil, salt and a squeeze of lemon.


When the lamb was finished I took it out to rest while I finished the sauce. I added a tin of chickpeas, some fresh coriander and some cornflour to thicken. 


All that was left to do was carve the lamb and serve it with the couscous. The lamb was still pink in the centre, in fact it could have had a little less time! I really liked the couscous, although the sauce for the lamb was a little bit underwhelming - it needed a bit more punch. Might add some more spices to the leftovers. Still - half an hour to cook a roast is pretty good.