This is another recipe from Hilaire Walden's wonderful book The Moroccan Collection. Not a very traditional dish for over the Christmas holidays you may be thinking but the truth is it is more to our taste than the more usual festive fare. Also I must say that the last thing I wanted was to be frantically slaving in the kitchen all day churning out enormous quantities of food we couldn't possibly manage to eat in a month of Sundays and consequently feeling stuffed and bloated for days on end afterwards. The following menu, I felt, was easy on the cook but still deliciously satisfying, served with a holiday mood inducing Anna de Codorníu Reserva Brut Cava. Café and tipples afterwards of course!
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Hummus with Pita Breads and Olives
Lamb stuffed with Couscous, Spices and Nuts
Roasted Mixed Vegetables
Tiramisu Ice Cream with Crushed Amaretti
Hummus with Pita Breads and Olives
Lamb stuffed with Couscous, Spices and Nuts
Roasted Mixed Vegetables
Tiramisu Ice Cream with Crushed Amaretti
For my 1.9kg leg of lamb this was too much stuffing, about a third less would have been about right I reckon. With some help from Mr. P I managed to roll the meat and stuffing into a reasonably tidy-looking sausage shape and tie it up ... but we had stuffing oozing out at both ends as there weren't any "flaps" of meat, as described in the recipe, to parcel it up any better. So a bit of a struggle and I was fearful that the stuffing would start to fall out onto the bottom of the pan during roasting and start to burn.
My oven is ferocious, so with that in mind, I set the starting temperature at 230ºC and determined to keep a sharp eye on things. Also after the initial searing at high temperature for 15 minutes, I felt that just another 25 minutes at 220ºC wouldn't be enough to cook the lamb properly because of the stuffing. Another similar recipe I have gives a roasting time of 2 hours in a moderate oven, so I decided to take the middle road and give it an additional 45 minutes at 200ºC as we like our lamb slightly pink but definitely not bloody. Also this temperature would allow me to roast a pan of vegetables (I decided on butternut squash, courgettes and parsnips) at the same time.
Well, this worked out great! The lamb was done perfectly, just as we like it, the stuffing nicely heated through, and the lemon juice really gave a nice zing to everything. I think next time, instead of trying to cram all the stuffing into the rolled-up joint, I would roast the surplus separately in a little dish because it really was delicious ... all those lovely nuts and spices, yum! The only other comment I would make is that for us it would serve six to seven generously, I can't see it stretching to eight or ten unless you carve it quite thinly and have lots of side dishes. A really fabulous recipe, too much work for everyday but lovely for a dinner invite.
Leftover lamb for us tomorrow ... some broccoli or fine green beans with baked sweet potatoes would be a nice accompaniment for a change. I'll slice the lamb and put it on an ovenproof plate, covered with foil, and let it heat through in the oven for the last 10 minutes or so of baking the sweet potatoes. Easy peasy!
Well, this worked out great! The lamb was done perfectly, just as we like it, the stuffing nicely heated through, and the lemon juice really gave a nice zing to everything. I think next time, instead of trying to cram all the stuffing into the rolled-up joint, I would roast the surplus separately in a little dish because it really was delicious ... all those lovely nuts and spices, yum! The only other comment I would make is that for us it would serve six to seven generously, I can't see it stretching to eight or ten unless you carve it quite thinly and have lots of side dishes. A really fabulous recipe, too much work for everyday but lovely for a dinner invite.
Leftover lamb for us tomorrow ... some broccoli or fine green beans with baked sweet potatoes would be a nice accompaniment for a change. I'll slice the lamb and put it on an ovenproof plate, covered with foil, and let it heat through in the oven for the last 10 minutes or so of baking the sweet potatoes. Easy peasy!
Stuffed Baked Lamb - Serves 8-10
butterflied1 large onion, cut into thick wedges
3 Tbsp olive oil
juice of 2 lemons
Stuffing:
50g couscous
150ml boiling water
2 tspn coriander seeds
2 tspn cumin seeds
1 tspn ground cinnamon
3 Tbsp olive oil
50g pine nuts
50g flaked almonds
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tspn dried mint
4 Tbsp chopped coriander leaves
50g raisins
salt and pepper
First make the stuffing. Put the couscous into a bowl, pour over the boiling water, stir, then leave until the water has been absorbed.
Heat a small heavy pan, add the coriander and cumin seeds and heat until fragrant. Grind to a powder then mix with the cinnamon.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a frying pan, add the pine nuts and almonds and fry until golden. Transfer to kitchen paper to drain. Add the remaining oil to the pan. When it is hot, add the onion and fry until soft. Stir in the garlic and spice mixture and fry for 2 minutes, then add the nuts, mint coriander, raisins and salt and pepper. Mix in the couscous.
Open out the lamb, skin side down, on a work surface. Season inside with pepper then spread over the stuffing. If possible, tuck the flaps of the piece of lamb over the stuffing. Roll up the lamb into a neat sausage shape then tie securely with string.
Preheat the oven to its highest setting. Put the onion wedges into a roasting tin that the lamb will just fit. Put the lamb on top of the onion and pour over the oil and lemon juice. Bake for 15 minutes then lower the oven temperature to 220ºC and bake for a further 25 minutes so the lamb is pink in the centre. Remove the lamb from the oven, cover and leave to stand in a warm place for about 15 minutes before carving.
Cook's note: I think it would be perfectly alright to toast the nuts in a dry pan to cut down on the total amount of oil. Arabic and Eastern cuisines seem to use a lot of oil compared to health conscious Western tastes and so I often cut back. If you like your lamb well done I would say, apart from the initial 15 minutes at high temperature to sear the meat, 60 minutes at 200ºC should do the trick.
Heat a small heavy pan, add the coriander and cumin seeds and heat until fragrant. Grind to a powder then mix with the cinnamon.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a frying pan, add the pine nuts and almonds and fry until golden. Transfer to kitchen paper to drain. Add the remaining oil to the pan. When it is hot, add the onion and fry until soft. Stir in the garlic and spice mixture and fry for 2 minutes, then add the nuts, mint coriander, raisins and salt and pepper. Mix in the couscous.
Open out the lamb, skin side down, on a work surface. Season inside with pepper then spread over the stuffing. If possible, tuck the flaps of the piece of lamb over the stuffing. Roll up the lamb into a neat sausage shape then tie securely with string.
Preheat the oven to its highest setting. Put the onion wedges into a roasting tin that the lamb will just fit. Put the lamb on top of the onion and pour over the oil and lemon juice. Bake for 15 minutes then lower the oven temperature to 220ºC and bake for a further 25 minutes so the lamb is pink in the centre. Remove the lamb from the oven, cover and leave to stand in a warm place for about 15 minutes before carving.
Cook's note: I think it would be perfectly alright to toast the nuts in a dry pan to cut down on the total amount of oil. Arabic and Eastern cuisines seem to use a lot of oil compared to health conscious Western tastes and so I often cut back. If you like your lamb well done I would say, apart from the initial 15 minutes at high temperature to sear the meat, 60 minutes at 200ºC should do the trick.
1 comment:
That lamb and stuffing looks heavenly, Pi!! It's so moist! It's perfect for the holiday.
Lea xx
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