Category Archives: lamb

aubergines stuffed with lamb and pine nuts

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ottolenghi's aubergines stuffed with lamb and pine nuts

I make no attempt to hide my love of Ottolenghi’s cooking. Since Plenty swept on to my bookshelf in 2010, his recipes and techniques have informed the way I cook on a weekly basis. It’s the tastes and combinations alien to my palette that interest, as his heritage brings with it exotic and fun flavours.

jerusalem by ottolenghiIn his latest book, Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi (Ebury Press, £27), he and long-time partner Sami retrace their shared childhood growing up in Jerusalem. A town that is politically complicated, cross-pollinated with religion and pilgrims from all over the world cannot help but produce a diverse and fascinating culinary history. Sami and Yotam grew up either side of the city and had simultaneously very different and very similar upbringings.

The book is at once a cookbook, cultural snapshot and history of this unique city. The personal affection for their childhood haunts radiate from every page, and this love transfers to the food. Pistachios, pomegranate molasses and parsley abound, with spices and herbs packed into every dish.

Aubergines feature prominently, as in this recipe with lamb and pine nuts. It’s spicy, sweet and sour and very meaty. I made a slight adjustment to the original, making more of the sweet-sour tomato sauce that accompanies it. There was also call for tamarind paste but I know I’ll use it once then it will rot away in my cupboard, so I used a little brown sauce instead, which is essentially tamarind processed just enough to make palatable to the English. It’s just the thing for Autumnal nights, and makes great leftovers the next day too.

Aubergines stuffed with lamb and pine nuts (serves 2 with plenty left):

2 aubergines halved lengthways

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 onion, finely chopped

300g lamb mince

30g pine nuts

Parsley, chopped

1 squirt tomato puree

1 tablespoon caster sugar

1 tablespoon brown sauce

2 cinnamon sticks

500g passata

  1. Preheat the oven to 220°C. Brush the aubergines with oil, salt and pepper and put skin side down in a roasting tray. Roast for 20 mins and put to one side.
  2. While the aubergines roast fry the onion in a little oil. Add half the cumin, paprika and cinnamon. After the onion softens add the lamb, pine nuts, tomato puree, sugar and season. Cook for a further 10 minutes.
  3. Turn the oven down to 180°C. Spoon the lamb mix on top of the aubergines, and then in the frying pan add the passata, brown sauce and remaining spices. Bring to a simmer and pour around the aubergines. Cover with foil and bake for a further 1 hour 30 minutes until the aubergine are completely soft. Serve with creme fraiche and rice.


Gary Fennon
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red hot lamb burgers

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red hot lamb burgers with mint mayonnaise

There’s no shortage of burger recipes on this blog, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for one more.

I was sent a bottle of Frank’s Red Hot sauce in the post. It’s not a condiment I usually use but after a little taste I found it really interesting – very hot of course, but with a very pleasant fruity taste. I thought it would work really well at cutting through the richness of lamb in these burgers, and if it all proved too much then the mint mayonnaise rushes in at the end to put out the fire. A great combo, and I’m definitely converted to hot sauce!

PS. I’ve been pointed to this bonkers competition of Frank’s, where you can win a “massive” TV. 

Red hot lamb burgers (makes 4):

400g lamb mince

1 tablespoon Frank’s Red Hot Sauce

1 tablespoon mint, finely chopped

200g mayonnaise

1 beef tomato, sliced

4 soft rolls

  1. Combine the mince with the sauce and a good pinch of salt. Form the lamb into 4 patties but try not to compress them too much – you want to keep a nice loose texture.
  2. Preheat a frying pan to pretty darn hot. Add a splash of oil and fry the burgers for 3-4 minutes each side.
  3. While the burgers are cooking mix the mint and mayonnaise together. Lightly toast the rolls.
  4. When the burgers are browned on both sides, slam into a bun, layer on a tomato slice, slather with minty mayo and gobble up.

curried lamb breast with onions

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curried lamb breast with onions

Flushed with the success of Simon Hopkinson’s stunning lamb breast dish, I felt the only way it could be improved is with the addition of curry spices. The Indian flavours I felt would surely go well with rich lamb. At the same time I stumbled upon other people doing the same dish, such as Girl Interrupted Eating. She’d chosen to do this in the slow cooker so I thought I’d do the same. I asked if she’d fried the onions off beforehand, as in my experience onions aren’t good at breaking down in a slow cooker. However in my haste I got on and cooked them off anyway, before Becky could reply that she didn’t!

Mine turned out very nice – warming and spiced and just breaking through the fatty lamb. It kinda tasted like it had been baked in mango chutney. Juicy and filling, not what you’d call a light dinner! Good fun though.

Curried lamb breast baked with onions (serves 4):

800g lamb breast

3 onions, sliced

1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled

3 garlic cloves, peeled

1 large bunch of fresh coriander

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon garam masala

1 teaspoon chilli powder

6 curry leaves

  1. Pre-heat your slow cooker to low.
  2. Heat a little oil in a large frying pan and sear the lamb on each side. Put to one side while you fry the onions gently.
  3. Remove the leaves from the coriander bunch and reserve for later. Put the stalks on a chopping board with the garlic and ginger and chop together to a chunky paste. When the onions have softened add the coriander / garlic / ginger mix. Fry for a minute and then add all the spices, frying for another minute.
  4. Add half the onion mix to the slow cooker, pop the lamb on top then add the remaining onions. Add a splash of water and pop the lid on for about 6 hours, or until the lamb can be pushed apart with a spoon.
  5. Remove the lamb to the side for one minute so you can remove any bones or gummy bits of skin ‘n’ stuff that lamb breast can have. Pop a sieve on a saucepan and put the onions into the sieve. Put the lamb and drained onions with a sprinkle of salt back into the slow cooker while you work on the reserved liquid.
  6. Simmer the liquid until reduced by half, add a dash of white wine vinegar and the coriander leaves. Dish up the lamb and onions, spoon over the sauce and serve with crispy cauliflower.

lamb breast baked with onions

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lamb breast baked with onions

As previously mentioned, I love Simon Hopkinson’s Good Cook series. And I love lamb breast recipes. So my only reservation is seeing Simon do this brilliant recipe is fretting that the price of lamb breast would go up. Lamb breast is dirt cheap, seriously cheap, so what we don’t need is a primetime BBC programme showing how amazing lamb breast can be.

And amazing it is. Rich, heady, falling-apart lamb with luscious, sharp onions is an absolute dream. Try it now.

Simon Hopkinson’s original recipe can be found here.

Lamb breast baked with onions (serves 4):

1.5kg lamb breast

1.5kg onions, sliced

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 anchovy, finely chopped

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

  1. Preheat the oven to 150°C.
  2. Season the lamb in a hot, lidded casserole pan until browned all over. Remove from the pan and put to one side. Add half the onions to the pan, lay the lamb back on top then cover with the remaining onions and the bay leaf. Top with a circle of greaseproof paper and bake for three hours, until the lamb is tender.
  3. Turn off the oven heat and remove the casserole dish. Discard the bay leaf and put the lamb in a roasting tray. Cover with foil and leave in the oven while you finish the onions.
  4. Put the casserole dish over a low heat and add the anchovy and vinegar. Stir through and season to taste, so it’s sweet, salty and sharp at the same time. When it’s ready turn off the heat and add the parsley. Serve the lamb with a nice pile of juicy onions alongside.

spring lamb, vegetable platter, mint sauce and chianti gravy

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spring lamb, vegetable platter, mint sauce with chianti gravy

I thought I’d tried all the Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals that I wanted to, until the photo-ninja Nga commented about the spring lamb recipe… I couldn’t believe I’d missed it! So I tore off to try it.

It’s a relatively simple recipe, with seared & roasted lamb, and a big bowl of pots ‘n’ veg boiled up. But it’s a great way to multi-task without actually too much effort, and the result is dis-proportionately good. If you’re at all skitterish about whether you can manage the 30 minute thing or not, give this one a whirl as it’s not too busy (I should point out that Jamie did a fondue in with his full recipe but that was simply microwaved chocolate). Well worth a go.

Spring lamb, vegetable platter, mint sauce and chianti gravy (serves 4):

For the lamb:

1 8-bone rack of lamb

3 sprigs rosemary

2 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

White wine vinegar

300g cherry tomatoes on the vine

For the gravy:

4 rashers smoked bacon

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon flour

½ glass red wine

For the veg:

400g baby new potatoes

4 carrots

Stalks from a bunch of mint

1 chicken stock cube

300g fine beans

½ Savoy cabbage

½ a lemon

For the mint sauce:

Leaves from a bunch of mint

4 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon caster sugar

  1. Get the oven on 220C, a frying pan and saucepan over high heats and get that kettle a-boilin’.
  2. Add some olive oil to the pan. Halve the rack of lamb, season all over and pop it in.
  3. Wash the potatoes, chop the carrots into nice chunks and add to the saucepan. Cover with boiling water and toss in the mint stalks and stock cube.
  4. Turn the lamb well and make sure it’s browned all over. While it’s finishing bash the garlic and rosemary together in a mortar and pestle. Season, add the mustard and spread the lot over the  lamb. Transfer the lamb to a roasting dish with the tomatoes and slam in the oven for 14 minutes. Keep the frying pan on the heat and add the bacon, chopped.
  5. Re-using the mortar from before, add the mint leaves with vinegar, sugar, pinch of salt and a splash of water from the veg pot. Mix it together for the mint sauce.
  6. Add the flour and rosemary to the gravy pan, and stir for a minute to coat everything in flour. Add a few ladles of cooking water. Cut the Savoy into thin wedges and add to the boiling pot with the beans.
  7. The lamb should be done about now, so get it out of the oven to rest for a minute while you sort out the veg. Once the beans are tender, drain the lot and return to the pot. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil, some salt and pepper and the juice from the lemon. Toss well and serve. Cut the lamb into chops, check the gravy for seasoning and get stuck in!