This is a simple, spicy marinade for lamb steaks or chops that works best when the meat is cooked on a barbecue, a griddle pan or under a very hot grill.
Large lamb leg steaks, fresh from my favourite local butcher, are my preferred cut of lamb for this marinade, as they take on the flavours very quickly and remain tender and juicy when fast-cooked. But any lamb steaks or chops work really well here.
The first time I used this marinade, we cooked the lamb on the barbecue and it went completely black. I got very cross with my other-half for burning it, before discovering that it was actually perfectly cooked. What had blackened was the marinade and, far from spoiling the flavours, it tasted amazing against the rare lamb.
I’ve deliberately not included cooking times for the marinated lamb here, as these will depend completely on what cut of lamb you are using and how rare you want it. I generally use lamb leg steaks and cook them on a very hot griddle pan for two minutes on each side, as I like my meat rare. How you do it is completely up to you.
SPICY MARINADE FOR BARBECUED, GRIDDLED OR GRILLED LAMB
Takes: 5 minutes to prepare (plus 1hr+ marinating time)
Makes: Enough for two large lamb steaks or 3-4 lamb chops
Ingredients:
- 1 tsp harissa paste (my favourite is by Bart Spice’s)
- A good glug of garlic oil (or olive oil with 1 clove of crushed garlic)
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- Juice of 1/2 a lemon
- Pinch of sea salt
- Approximately 1 tsp ground black pepper, to taste
Method:
- Add all of the ingredients to a large bowl and mix well.
- Place the lamb steaks or chops into the bowl and rub the marinade into the meat with your hands.
- Cover the bowl and place in the fridge to marinate for at least an hour, preferably longer.
- Take the bowl out the fridge at least an hour before cooking to allow the lamb to warm up slightly.
- When you want to cook, lift the lamb out of the bowl, allowing any excess marinade to drip off.
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