Shoulder of lamb with red pepper, sweet paprika and black olives

Serves 6

1 shoulder of lamb, trimmed of most of its fat

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 red onions, peeled and chopped

1 dried red chilli

1 tsp fennel seeds, warmed in a low oven then pounded in a pestle and mortar

1 bunch of marjoram, leaves only

4 peeled cloves of garlic, pounded

3 red peppers, sliced into half-inch slices

11/2 tsp sweet Spanish paprika

500g/1lb ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 bottle dry white wine

A handful of good-quality small black olives

1 generous bunch of flat-leaf parsley, leaves only, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Place a pan large enough to comfortably hold the lamb over a medium heat. Season the meat generously with salt and pepper and, when the pan is hot, add the shoulder and brown well all over – this will take about 10 minutes.

Remove the meat from the pan, turn down the heat slightly, pour off any excess fat and add the onions, dried chilli, fennel seeds and marjoram. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once the onions are really soft, add the garlic, red peppers and sweet paprika. Cook for five minutes, then add the chopped tomatoes. Turn the heat up slightly and, when bubbling, add the white wine. Reduce a little, return the browned lamb to the pot, cover and place on the middle shelf of the warmed oven.

Cook gently for three hours, by which time the lamb should be falling from the bone and the sweet peppers melting into the juices. Remove from the oven and add the olives. Taste for seasoning and serve with plenty of roughly chopped parsley.