Colm O'Gorman: Spiced lamb with roasted red pepper labneh and parsnip crisps

I'm a little bit obsessed with pickled red onions. They are fabulous with this labneh and lamb 

This week’s recipe features labneh, a soft cheese made from Greek yoghurt. It is a beautiful Middle Eastern ingredient, that works wonderfully with savoury dishes. You do not need to worry about finding labneh in the shop, it is very easy to make at home. All you need to do is strain most of the whey from Greek yoghurt using some cheesecloth. Ideally, you should let the yoghurt strain overnight, so a little forward planning is required.

For this recipe, I have flavoured the labneh with roasted red pepper. Roasted peppers are also easy to make, all you need to do is wash the pepper and place it on a baking tray. Warm your oven to 220°Celsius and roast the red pepper until it is lightly charred, about fifteen to twenty minutes will do it. 

Remove the pepper from the oven and pop it into a bowl. Cover the bowl with some cling film and let that sit for thirty minutes. Finally, remove the stalks, seeds, and skin from the pepper. The flesh will be soft and silky and sweet and bursting with flavour. If you are pressed for time, or find it more convenient, you can use a roasted red pepper from a jar. Lidl stocks these in 400g jars, and they are very good.

Regular readers may have noticed that I am currently a little obsessed with pickled red onions. I just had to include them again here as they are fabulous with the labneh and lamb. They really balance the flavours, bringing some sharpness and freshness to the dish. The parsnip crisps bring some lovely texture and crunch and are just delicious.

Spiced Lamb with Roasted Red Pepper Labneh and Parsnip Crisps

Parsnip crisps add texture to an already-big dish.

Servings

4

Cooking Time

 60 mins

Total Time

 60 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Middle Eastern

Ingredients

• Labneh:

• 500g Greek yoghurt

• 1 tsp honey

• ½ tsp flaky sea salt

• 2 tsp lemon juice

• 1 roasted red pepper, flesh only

• Spiced Lamb:

• 1 tsp cumin seed

• 1 tsp fennel seed

• 1 tsp chilli flakes

• 1 clove of garlic

• Zest of an orange

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• Salt to season

• 8 lamb chops

• Pickled red onion:

• 1 large red onion

• 150ml white wine vinegar

• 75g caster sugar

• ½ tsp sea salt

• ½ tsp mustard seeds

• Parsnip Chips:

• 2 parsnips

• 1 litre sunflower oil to fry the chips

Method

1. Start preparing the labneh the night before you will cook the rest of the dish. Place some cheesecloth in a sieve and scoop in 500g of thick Greek yoghurt. Tie off the ends of the cloth so that the yoghurt is contained in a ball shape and sit the sieve into a bowl. If you cannot get hold of cheesecloth, you can use a new unused pop sock instead. I discovered this during the first covid lockdown when most of the shops were closed and I had to improvise. I spotted some pop socks in the supermarket and decided to give them a try and they worked beautifully. I use them all the time now instead of cheesecloth.

2. Just stretch the pop sock over the mouth of a measuring jug or bowl and spoon in the yoghurt. Lift out the sock and gently move all the yoghurt to the bottom. Pop that into a sieve and rest it on top of the jug or bowl and leave it to strain overnight in the fridge. The next morning, open the cloth or pop sock and you will have a lovely ball of soft creamy labneh.

3. Before making your red pepper labneh, marinate the lamb. Peel and grate the garlic. Lightly toast the fennel and cumin seeds in a dry pan over a medium heat until they are fragrant, three minutes is plenty. Place them in a bowl big enough to hold the lamb chops, add the chilli flakes, garlic, orange zest, olive oil and salt. Stir well to combine, and pop in the lamb chops. Massage the marinade into the chops to ensure they are well coated and set aside for thirty minutes.

4. Put the labneh, roasted red pepper flesh, honey, salt, and lemon juice into a food processor and blitz until it is smooth. Set aside for now.

5. Peel and very finely slice the parsnips lengthways. I have a Japanese mandolin that I use for this, and I highly recommend that you get one if you are a regular cook. It is an inexpensive but very handy tool; I use mine all the time.

6. Heat a heavy-based non-stick frying pan over a high heat. When it is good and hot, pop on the lamb chops. I start by arranging my chops skin side down on the pan, standing them on their sides in a clump to render down the fat and crisp up the skin. This will take three to four minutes. Now place the chops flat in the pan, cooking them on each side for two minutes if you want them rare and pink or three to four minutes for a little more well done. While the lamb is cooking, put the sunflower oil into a deep saucepan and get it on over a high heat bringing it to 180°Celsius. Remove the chops from the frying pan when they are done to your liking and let them rest for five minutes before serving them.

7. As the lamb rests, fry the parsnip crisps in batches. Carefully add one-quarter of the thin slices of parsnip to the oil and fry for a few minutes until they are crisp and lightly browned. Remove them from the oil using a slatted spoon and drain them on some kitchen paper. Repeat until you have cooked all the parsnip and then scatter them with some flaky sea salt.

8. Time now to plate up. Spoon a generous portion of labneh per person onto four separate plates. Arrange two lamb chops on top of the labneh and add a good serving of pickled red onions to the side. Divide the parsnip crisps across the four plates and then garnish the lamb with some chopped flat-leaf parsley and some pomegranate seeds.