Prue Leith’s herby, garlicky lamb chops

Try this Middle-East inspired dish this autumn

Lauren Taylor
Saturday 19 October 2024 06:00 BST
Comments
This is bold cooking for those who like their flavours unapologetic
This is bold cooking for those who like their flavours unapologetic (Ant Duncan)

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“Toum is a Lebanese condiment similar to aioli but uses garlic to stabilise the sauce rather than egg yolk,” explains Prue Leith, “Which means it’s very garlicky. Yum.”

Grilled lamb chops with toum and herb salad

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

8-12 lamb chops

1 tbsp olive oil

Salt and black pepper

For the toum:

1 garlic bulb, cloves separated, peeled and roughly chopped

1/2 tsp salt

200ml vegetable oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

For the herb salad:

A handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

A handful of mint leaves, chopped

1 small red onion, finely chopped

2 tomatoes, diced

1/2 large cucumber, diced

1 tbsp olive oil

Method:

‘Life’s Too Short To Stuff A Mushroom’ is Leith’s 15th cookbook
‘Life’s Too Short To Stuff A Mushroom’ is Leith’s 15th cookbook (Carnival)

1. Prepare the toum by blending the garlic and salt to a paste in a blender or food processor. Scrape down the inside and blend again. Slowly drizzle in the oil while the motor is running until the mixture becomes thick and emulsified. Stir in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

2. Heat the grill (broiler) to medium-high and line the grill tray with foil.

3. Arrange the chops on the lined tray and brush them with the olive oil. Season with salt and black pepper.

4. Grill (broil) the chops for three to four minutes, turn them over, oil and season the second side, and grill for a further three to four minutes, until cooked through to medium. Remove the chops from the grill, cover loosely with foil and leave to rest for five minutes, while you make the salad.

5. Mix together the parsley, mint, red onion, tomatoes and cucumber. Drizzle olive oil over the top and toss to combine. Season with salt and black pepper.

6. Arrange the chops on warm plates. Spoon some toum over them and serve with the herb salad.

‘Life’s Too Short To Stuff A Mushroom’ by Prue Leith (Carnival, £25).

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