Kleftiko. Special Edition.

Will's first blogging appearance.

Behind every great man and all that. Except, ever the contrarian, in our house it’s the other way round. Quietly at my shoulder through all my work, life and blogging efforts, is my long-suffering husband Will, who also loves to cook (we argue about who will cook, not who wants to avoid it). He is also in charge of all the practicalities that make our kitchen function - the weekly grocery shopping, the stocking the larder, the tidying the surfaces when I leave it like a bombsite to watch Eastenders. And the dishwasher, which I am definitively never allowed to touch, because I (allegedly) put all the things in the wrong places. Same with the recycling. Step away, Ems, step away! Every relationship has it’s red lines, and these, it seems, are ours.

Today we’re feasting on a fabulous Kleftiko. We ate it years ago in Santorini on a child-free holiday. Sigh. Those were the days. I mean, just look how happy and relaxed we are in the pics. Instead of the perpetually tired old bastards that we are now, sitting in rainy Somerset.

Anyway, we regularly re-create Kleftiko at home, with enough to feed the kids too, and this is Will’s recipe.

You’ll need a heavyweight oven dish - a lovely Le Crueset will do the job. And it will need to be airtight, so line with baking parchment to help with the seal.

Shoulder of lamb. A half shoulder is plenty for four or five people. Slash the flesh, stud with garlic. Marinade in a mixture of garlic, dried oregano, bay leaf (finely ground), ground cinnamon, olive oil, juice of half a lemon, generous salt and pepper. Leave the flavours to meld for as long as you can - a couple of days is ideal.

Potatoes (Maris Piper, or waxy) - quartered or so. Sliced onions. Sliced red pepper. Bay leaves, chopped garlic, dried oregano, salt and pepper.

Pop the shoulder of lamb on top and add a large glass of fruity white wine.

140 fan oven. Cook for as long as you have time - anything up to about five hours. Just keep half an eye on it to make sure it’s not drying out, and if it is just slug in some more white wine.

About half an hour before you want to eat, add halved fresh tomatoes. For the last 30 minutes turn the oven up to 220 or put under the grill so everything browns beautifully. To finish add whatever you like - crumbled feta, pomegranate seeds, fresh flat leaf parsley, squeeze or two more of fresh lemon. Olives - black or green.

Serve as it is. Or with crusty white bread, flatbreads, a fresh green or tomato salad, whatever suits the weather and the mood of the room.

Only one thing to drink with this and it’s a glass of Pinot Noir. I don’t drink much red wine, but my Naked Wines app recommends Grasshopper Rock Central Otage Pinot Noir 2018. Apparently it is good if you like your reds “simple and easy”. Which sounds a lot like me. So let’s give that a whirl. Ya Mas.