Main Meals

Roast lamb with crisp onion and tahini

4
Easy
35 minutes
45 minutes
Wine/Spirit Pairing
Ken Forrester Shiraz Grenache 2008

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Ingredients

Method
  • 1.2 kg free-range leg of lamb, deboned
  • 1/3 kg olive oil
  • 3 t sumac
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 cup sesame seeds
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 2 small onions, thinly sliced
  • 3 T flour
  • 1 cup canola oil
  • 1 cup thick Greek yoghurt
  • ½ cup chopped fresh mint
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
  • Pittas, warmed, for serving

Method

Ingredients

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Unroll the leg of lamb onto your work surface. Rub it with 2 to 3 T olive oil and 2 t sumac* and season lightly.

Transfer to a baking tray and roast for 45 minutes, or until tender but still slightly pink. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for a few minutes.

To make the tahini:

Toast the sesame seeds in a pan over a medium to high heat until golden and warmed through.

Place the hot seeds in a blender and blend, adding a little olive oil as you go, to form a paste. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and season with salt, to taste.

Lightly dust the onions slivers in the flour and fry, in batches, in a saucepan of hot canola oil until crisp and golden – about 20 seconds a batch.

Remove using a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.

Fold the remaining sumac into the Greek yoghurt. Mix the chopped mint and parsley with the remaining lemon juice and a little olive oil and drizzle over the cooked lamb.

Serve the lamb sliced and topped with a generous dollop of yoghurt and a scattering of fresh herbs and crisp onions. Pass around the tahini and warm pittas.

*Cook's note: Sumac is a Middle-eastern herb (read more about it here) and available from Asian and Middle-Eastern delis as well as Thrupps. If you cannot find it, simply use lemon zest.

Abigail Donnelly

Recipe by: Abigail Donnelly

Nothing excites Woolworths TASTE's Food Director quite as much as the challenge of dreaming up recipes with innovative new foods – or the thrill of creating deliciousness on a plate with the humblest of ingredients. With Abi by your side, you’ll be a cooking expert in no time at all.

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