This recipe is from the team at NZ House & Garden magazine.
This is a quick and easy method of cooking a large portion of lamb. Barbecuing the meat adds a lovely charred flavour to the spicy marinade.
SPICY HARISSA BUTTERFLIED LAMB LEG WITH DATES & SHALLOTS
Serves 6
Ingredients
Harissa lamb
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tbsp harissa paste
750g butterflied lamb leg
To serve
10 shallots, peeled and halved
8 fresh pitted dates, halved
2 tbsp olive oil
400g greek yoghurt
Method
Harissa lamb: In a roasting pan, combine olive oil, spices, garlic and the harissa paste. Season the lamb with salt and cracked pepper and place in the roasting dish. Coat in the marinade then cover and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.
Heat the barbecue grill to a medium/high temperature. Line an oven tray with baking paper and preheat the oven to 180C.
For medium rare, grill the lamb, fat side down, for 10 minutes then turn and grill for a further 10 minutes – if testing with a meat thermometer, the thickest part should be 56-58C. Remove from the heat, cover and set aside for 10 minutes to rest.
To serve: While the lamb is cooking, place the shallots on the lined oven tray and drizzle with olive oil. Roast for 20 minutes then add the dates and any marinade juices left over from the roasting pan. Roast for a further 5-10 minutes or until the shallots are tender and the dates are soft and sticky.
Smear the yoghurt onto the base of the serving dish. Slice the lamb and place on top of the yoghurt, along with the shallots, dates and any meat juices. Season with salt and pepper.
