Spring-like

lamb kofta kebabs

For a long time, I’ve been wanting to feature more main meal recipes here on my blog, but I find it hard to snap a good photo when I plate up dinner because there’s either not enough light or my hungry family just want to start eating! I’ve developed quite a list of wonderful dishes that I want to make again, and then finally photograph and post, including this one here.

I’ve been wanting to tell you about these lamb kofta kebabs since I first made them last year, but barbecue season in Australia came and went and the post about it was shelved, but certainly not forgotten. Now that we are having some relatively nice, warm, spring-like weather again, I thought I’d dust it off and share.

I seem to be fascinated with using meat together with nuts, whether it’s chicken and macadamias or lamb and walnuts. In this recipe, lamb and pistachios are combined for a very interesting flavour and texture that I just loved. In short, it’s the best kebab I’ve ever made, and likely the best I’ve ever eaten. Forget the greasy, fat-laden kebabs you buy after a night out drinking, these are made with good quality lamb, full of spices and served with fresh, fragrant herbs.

This would be the perfect dish to serve at a casual weekend backyard barbecue, with a few friends and a few cold beers. However, if you’re on the other side of the world, you could also cook these in a frying pan indoors, just make sure you preheat it before you start. You could also shape the mince mixture into patties rather than onto skewers, and it tastes just wonderful with salad on a burger. Just don’t forget the yoghurt.

Lamb Kofta Kebabs
Serves 6-8
Adapted from Jamie At Home by Jamie Oliver

Note: If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for a few minutes before putting the meat on them so that they don’t burn.

• 800g quality lamb mince
• ½ cup shelled pistachios, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground chilli
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large egg
• Zest of 1 lemon or 3 teaspoons sumac
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 red onion, very finely sliced
• Mixed salad leaves, washed and spun dry
• Small bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked
• Large flatbreads or tortilla wraps
• Plain natural yoghurt

1. Preheat your barbecue, or have a griddle pan prepared and preheated.
2. Place the lamb mince in a bowl with the chopped pistachios, thyme leaves, chilli, cumin, salt, pepper and egg. Mix well with a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined.
3. With damp hands, take handfuls of the lamb mixture and shape and squeeze the meat around metal or wooden skewers (see note above)
4. Combine the sliced onion and the lemon juice with a pinch of salt and pepper. Scrunch it together with your hands, then mix in the parsley leaves.
5. Grill the kebabs until nicely golden on all sides and cooked through.
6. Warm the flatbreads for 30 seconds, and divide between plates. Top each with some salad leaves and onion. When the kebabs are cooked, slip them off their skewers and onto the flatbreads. Drizzle with some of the yoghurt before serving.

8 Comments on “Spring-like”

  1. This looks fantastic, good mix of ingredients and looks incredibly fresh for Spring/Summer without sacrificing on content.

    Can’t wait for BBQ season to kick into swing, as long as there are no fire bans because I prefer charcoal bbqs.

  2. Oooh, that book just got re-released here.. Darn, I wish I had money to spare! The kofta kebabs look excellent!
    I too have the same problems with preparing dinner, haha 🙂

  3. Y, it tastes incredibly good too! I think I will be making it again very soon haha

    Howard, everything just goes so well together! It’s a great little dish. We recently got a new BBQ, just in time, though I love the sound of a charcoal one!

    Mark, Jamie has several recipes up on his website to tide you over in the meantime 😉 I know what you mean though, there are so many cookbooks that I want right now!

    EatingClub, thank you! Yes, I first saw him make it on his show too and I just knew I had to make it for myself 🙂

  4. even in Turkey, most of the people do not know to put pistachio (we call il “Antep” nut) in it. I would offer you to eat it without yoğurt ON it rather as a side dish and the yogurt is best if it is not juicy (we call it “filtered” here). your yogurt looks more like “ayran” that we drink.

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