Turkish Style Lamb Recipes

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut lamb shoulder into 2 or 3 pieces, and place in a shallow 12-by-14-inch roasting pan or similar. Season generously with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with red pepper, if desired.
• Rub meat with olive oil, lemon juice and pomegranate molasses. Tuck thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, garlic cloves and onion halves here and there. Place in oven, uncovered, and roast for 30 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned.
• Turn meat browned-side down and add 2 cups of water to the pan. Cover tightly with foil or lid. Reduce heat to 325 degrees. Cook, covered, until meat is absolutely fork tender and beginning to fall apart, about 3 1/2 hours total. Uncover during last 30 minutes of cooking if you want to brown the meat a bit more.
• Remove meat to a cutting board. Pour pan juices into a skillet (discard herbs and garlic). Skim and discard excess fat from surface. Bring to a boil and simmer until about a cup remains.
• Chop or shred meat into 1-inch chunks or rough slices. Transfer to a warm platter and pour juices over. (Alternatively, leave meat in pan with reduced juices until ready to serve.) Garnish with persimmon and pomegranate (if using), parsley, mint and lemon wedges. Serve yogurt on the side.

Steps:

• Dry-fry the pine nuts or almonds in a large pan until lightly toasted, then tip onto a plate. Add the oil to the pan, then fry the onion and cinnamon together until starting to turn golden. Turn up the heat, stir in the lamb, fry until the meat changes colour, then tip in the rice and cook for 1 min, stirring all the time.
• Pour in 500ml boiling water, crumble in the stock cube, add the apricots, then season to taste. Turn the heat down, cover and simmer for 12 mins until the rice is tender and the stock has been absorbed. Toss in the pine nuts and mint and serve.

Steps:

• Heat grill to high. Season the lamb, then grill for 2 mins on each side until browned, but still very rare. Meanwhile, mix the seasoning, oregano and half of the mint into one of the tubs of yogurt, smother this over the lamb, then return to the grill for another 2-3 mins or until the yogurt is blistered and the meat is cooked to your liking.
• Leave the meat to rest on a board for a few mins while you toast the pittas, shred the lettuce and thinly slice the red onion. Stir the rest of the mint into the second tub of yogurt. Thickly slice the meat and stuff into the pitta bread with the salad and minted yogurt. Squeeze over lemon juice before tucking in, if you like.

Steps:

• To make the marinade:
• Mix together the garlic, olive oil, tomato paste, spices, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste.
• To prepare the kebabs:
• Add the meat to the marinade and toss. Let marinate for at least 2 hours.
• Prepare a charcoal fire in an outdoor grill, switch on the gas if you have an outdoor gas grill, or preheat the broiler to high.
• Thread the meat onto 7 long skewers and the tomatoes onto an eighth one. Grill over high heat or broil 3 to 4 minutes on each side, or until the meat and tomatoes are done to your liking. Slip the meat and tomatoes off the skewers onto flatbread and serve immediately.

Steps:

• Mix the yeast and 250ml warm water in a small bowl, and leave to stand for 5-10 mins until foamy - this means the yeast is working. Put the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl (or use a tabletop mixer fitted with a dough hook and set at a low speed). Add the yeast mixture and mix by hand or machine until the dough comes together into a ball. If the mixture is too sticky to form a ball, add 2 tbsp flour and mix again. Knead for 12 mins by hand, or 8-10 mins on a high speed in the mixer, until smooth, then put in a lightly oiled bowl. Turn to coat the dough in the oil, cover with cling film and leave in a warm place for 2-4 hrs until doubled in size. (You can also put it in the fridge overnight, punch down and let it rise again at room temperature.)
• Heat the oven to 240C/220C/gas 9. Put a baking sheet or pizza stone on the middle shelf. If you're using lamb leg meat, blitz it in a food processor until it's finely minced. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat until hot. Add the onion and garlic, and cook for 10 mins until golden. Add the lamb and cook for 5 mins or until brown, breaking up any lumps with a spoon, then pour off any excess oil. Add the spices, some seasoning, tomato purée, tomatoes and the pomegranate molasses, and cook for 5 mins more, mixing everything together well and breaking down the tomatoes with a spoon. Remove from the heat and leave to cool completely. Can be done one or two days ahead.
• Roll out the dough on a floured surface into a large rectangle about 30 x 40cm. Sprinkle 1 tsp or so of the semolina on a baking sheet. Put the dough on top and make sure it can move around. Add the spicy lamb first, then top with the red onions, pine nuts and feta. Slide onto the heated baking sheet or pizza stone and cook for 10-15 mins until crisp on the bottom.
• Remove and drizzle with a little extra pomegranate molasses, then scatter over the parsley and pomegranate seeds. Transfer to a large board and cut into diamonds to serve.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 500 degrees. Bring a pot of water to boil for pasta.
• Toss eggplant with 4 tablespoons oil and a large pinch of salt. Spread on a baking sheet, making sure there is room between pieces, and roast until crisp and brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
• In a large skillet, heat remaining tablespoon oil. Add 2 minced garlic cloves and the shallot and sauté until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add lamb, 1/2 teaspoon salt, red pepper flakes and black pepper to taste. Sauté until lamb is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Stir in mint or dill and cook for another 2 minutes. Stir eggplant into lamb. Taste and adjust seasonings.
• Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt butter: the amount is to your taste. Let cook until it turns golden brown and smells nutty, about 5 minutes. In a small bowl, stir together yogurt, remaining garlic and a pinch of salt.
• Drain pasta and spread on a serving platter. Top with lamb-eggplant mixture, then with yogurt sauce. Pour melted butter over top. Sprinkle on additional red pepper and more mint or dill. Serve immediately.