The best ways to grill lamb chops

Lamb is so versatile, yet so easy to get wrong if only a little overcooked, so grill it for the best results. The Great British Chefs use it in spicy Korean and pair it with halloumi and hummus for Middle Eastern flavours

Tea-smoked barbecued lamb chops with spicy Korean miso by Scott Hallsworth

Looking to liven up your barbecue repertoire? Scott Hallsworth injects an added earthiness and depth of flavour to his Korean-inspired barbecued lamb chop recipe by first hot smoking the cutlets over wood chips scattered with matcha green tea, serving them chargrilled alongside a smoky nasu miso (miso aubergine) and a spicy Korean miso sauce. Miso paste, matcha powder and gochujang – the spicy staple of Korean cooking – should all be available from Asian supermarkets or online.

Lamb chops

8 lamb chops
1 dash of olive oil

Barbecue marinade

½  red onion
1 handful of coriander seeds
2 garlic cloves
fresh ginger, 2 cm piece, peeled and roughly chopped
1 red chilli, roughly chopped
20g of sea salt

Smoking mix

30g of rice
3 tbsp of matcha, green tea powder

Nasu miso

1 aubergine
1 lemon, juice only
2 tsp miso paste
1 tbsp of vegetable oil
salt to season
black pepper to season

Korean miso

100g of gochujang
20ml of rice vinegar
10ml of sake
15g of caster sugar
10g of white miso
1 egg yolk

To serve

1 bunch of chives, finely chopped
2 limes, cut in half

Begin by making the marinade for the lamb chops. Blitz together the red onion, coriander seeds, garlic, ginger, red chilli and sea salt in a blender to form a purée. Coat the lamb chops with the marinade, cover and leave to infuse in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Meanwhile, prepare the Korean miso. Place the gochujang, rice vinegar, sake, sugar and miso paste into a small saucepan and simmer gently over a very low heat for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the egg yolk, then leave to cool until required.

To make the nasu miso, prick the aubergine all over with the tip of a knife. Rub lightly with vegetable oil and place under the hot grill, rotating until charred and blistered all over. Allow the aubergine to cool, then remove all the skin and chop the flesh into a rough, pulp-like texture. Season the flesh to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice, then stir through the miso paste and keep warm until ready to serve.

Preheat a barbecue until smoking hot. Place a wok in the centre of the barbecue and fill with 150g of smoking chips. Once the chips are smoking add the rice and heat through before scattering with the matcha powder. Remove the lamb chops from the fridge and dab away any excess marinade with kitchen paper, then place on a wire rack covered in tin foil and smoke over the wok for 2 minutes on each side.

Remove the lamb from the heat and discard the smoking apparatus, maintaining the heat of the barbecue. Once the lamb chops have cooled a little them lightly with olive oil and season generously. Grill the lamb on the barbecue for a few minutes each side until medium rare and charred on the outside, then remove from the heat and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, chargrill the lime halves flesh side down until blackened.

To serve, spoon a little of the nasu miso in the centre of each plate and top with 2 lamb chops per person. Garnish with a drizzle of the Korean miso sauce and a good handful of chopped chives, finishing with the charred lime on the side.

Grilled lamb cutlets with hummus and halloumi by Bryan Webb

An easy way to add Middle Eastern flavour to delicious lamb, Bryan Webb keeps the lamb simple and chars on a hot griddle, before serving with a creamy hummus dip, some fried halloumi and toasted pitta bread.

Lamb cutlets

16 lamb cutlets
sea salt
olive oil

Hummus

275g of chickpeas, cooked, drained and rinsed
1 lemon, juiced
1 garlic clove, large, peeled and grated
1 tbsp of tahini
​100ml of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp ground cumin
Tabasco
​sea salt

To plate

​400g of halloumi, sliced
​pitta bread, toasted
watercress, washed
1 dash of olive oil

Recipes courtesy of Great British Chefs. Visit their site for more delicious lamb recipes