Category: Lamb

Neil Perry’s barbequed butterflied lamb leg with cumin, lemongrass and ginger, Italian-style coleslaw and vine-ripened tomato salad

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 4

I pulled this recipe collection from The Good Weekend magazine in 2010 and only managed to get around to cooking it last night.

It is a real, Friday-night treat. Marinate the lamb during the day, pull it out of the fridge when you get home, get the grill clean and hot and whilst chargrilling the lamb, prepare the really simple and elegant salads.

With a glass of red, this is – and was – a great way to say hello to the weekend.

Ingredients

Lamb

1 lamb leg (about 2kg) butterflied
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 lemongrass stems, peeled and sliced into fine rounds
3cm piece fresh ginger, chopped
2 tsp roasted cumin seeds, half crushed to a powder, the rest whole
1 tsp sea salt
3 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
3 tbsp chopped mint
¼ c extra virgin olive oil
Freshly cracked pepper
Lemon wedges to serve

Coleslaw

1 baby cabbage or half Savoy cabbage, finely shredded
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to season
Extra virgin olive oil
Red wine vinegar
Shaved parmesan

Tomato salad

4 vine-ripened tomatoes, cut into chunks
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to season
Extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar

Method

Lamb

  1. To make the marinade, put the garlic, lemongrass, ginger, cumin and salt in a motar and pound into a rough paste in the pestle. Add the herbs and pound for a further minute then stir in the olive oil and mix well. (You can also process in a food processor but don’t make too smooth a paste.) Spread the marinade evenly over the butterflied lamb and leave in the fridge for at least an hour to infuse, remember that the lamb need to be removed from the fridge an hour prior to cooking.
  2. Preheat the BBQ medium-high. Cook the lamb for about 6-8 minutes per side depending on your preference of rare to medium-rare. Remove and cover with foil. Rest for 10 minutes.
  3. Carve the lamb into 5mm slices and arrange on 4 plates, pouring over any of the resting juices onto the slices of lamb. Give a good grind of pepper, place a lemon wedge on each plate and serve immediately… with the…

Italian-style coleslaw

  1. Finely shred the cabbage.
  2. Put in a large bowl and season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
  3. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar over, at a ratio of three parts oil to one part vinegar. Start to toss the cabbage ensuring that it doesn’t become wet and only moist.
  4. Toss through the shaved parmesan – the more the better people – and serve… with the…

Vine-ripened tomato salad

  1. Season the cut tomatoes with salt and pepper and drizzle with the extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar and serve immediately… with…
  2. A bottle of red wine!

Lamb Filo Spirals with Tomato and Mint Salad

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves 4

Recently at a function and calorie counting, I told myself not to eat but a few of the healthier canapes on offer, knowing full well that the healthiest canape was still not likely to get the Jenny Craig nod of approval.

Anyway, was doing pretty well, keeping to mineral water when a tray of old-school, Greek, mince and filo pastry triangles is offered. And if there is anything I can’t resist, it’s mince and filo pastry. Jenny was not amused but I really didn’t have any choice.

If it’s cold and raining and you just want some comfort and the couch, this recipe is for you.

Just stop counting your calories for the night!

Ingredients

1 3/4 c mint leaves
600g minced lamb
2 gloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
16 sheets filo pastry
100g butter, melted
2 tablespoon flaked almonds
2 tablespoon sesame seeds
250g punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
2 Lebanese cucumbers, halved lengthways, thinly sliced diagonally
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons lemon juice, plus lemon wedges to serve.

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200c.
  2. Coarsely chop 3/4 cup mint, then combine with mince, garlic and cumin in a bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  3. Place filo pastry on a work surface; keep covered with a lightly damp tea towel while working to prevent it drying out. Take 1 sheet of pastry and brush it lightly with melted butter. Top with another sheet and brush with butter.
  4. Place a 1cm-wide strip of lamb mixture along one side of the pastry. Roll pastry to enclose filling, then working quickly, coil the length of the pastry into a snail-shape. Place on 1 large paper-lined oven trays, then brush with butter. Repeat with the remaining pastry, butter and filling.
  5. Scatter the spirals with almonds and sesame seeds, then bake for 30 minutes or until crisp and golden.
  6. Meanwhile, combine tomatoes and cucumbers and remaining mint (1 c) in a bowl. Add oil and lemon juice and season to taste and toss to combine.
  7. Serve warm spirals with the salad and lemon wedges.