Moroccan lamb by broadcaster Andrew Marr

Moroccan lamb by broadcaster Andrew Marr

Moroccan lamb by broadcaster Andrew Marr

So far, I have enjoyed a lucky, materially easy life: I have never been homeless. When I was about 18, I did follow an unsuccessful love affair in Spain by travelling with almost no money. 

That meant living outside, using town squares and scraps of woodland for overnight sleeping-bag rests, living on tomatoes and bread discarded from bakeries. It was a brief, voluntary adventure only but gave me a tiny insight into how dirty you get very quickly; and how vulnerable genuinely homeless people must feel.

Today, I imagine the biggest problem is the lack of physical money. In a world where fewer and fewer people carry change, it must be harder to get the cash you need.

My recipe is a made-up one which reflects my enduring love of Middle Eastern food. In the family, we call it Moroccan lamb – apologies, Morocco.

1 x leg of lamb weighing 2.25kg-2.75kg (will feed up to 8 people)

  • Take a leg of lamb and de-bone it (the butcher can do this for you). For the stuffing, which can also be cooked alongside, chop two or three big handfuls of fresh coriander. Finely dice a bag of the darker dried apricots and the same of dates. Toast a big bag of pine nuts, and then smash them. Dice an onion finely. Combine all the ingredients together with salt and pepper, a little olive oil and lime or lemon juice. Stuff the lamb. Then, when you have tied it up with string, pierce the skin to insert garlic cloves, and rub the rest with harissa, using quite a lot. Roast in an oven preheated to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 for 1½ hours.
  • Serve sliced, with couscous and an orange salad. Well, it works for me!