grilled moroccan lamb chops

Ingredients

8 quality lean lamb cutlets

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon dried mint

1 teaspoon mild smoked paprika

zest and juice of ½ lemon

extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

200 g blanched almonds

200 g houmous

2 tablespoons harissa paste

For the coleslaw

2 carrots, peeled

½ celeriac, peeled

¼ small red cabbage, core cut out

½ onion, peeled

6 tablespoons natural yoghurt

zest and juice of 1 lime

1 small bunch fresh coriander, leaves picked, stalks finely chopped

Method

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. Lay the lamb chops out on a plate and sprinkle them with salt and pepper, the mint, paprika and lemon zest. Then squeeze over the lemon juice, drizzle with olive oil and massage the flavours into the chops with your fingertips. Leave the lamb to marinate for an hour or so.

Crush the fennel and cumin seeds in a pestle and mortar or a Flavour Shaker. Put the crushed spices and almonds on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, season and toss together until all the nuts are coated in the spice mixture. Toast in the preheated oven until lightly golden, then take them out and leave to cool.

To make the coleslaw, shred the carrots and celeriac on a mandoline. Slice the cabbage and onion as finely as you can with a sharp knife. Place the veg in a bowl with the yoghurt, the lime zest and juice and the coriander stalks. Mix well and season with salt and pepper.

Scoop the houmous into a nice bowl, spoon the harissa and a lug of olive oil on top and swirl them half in with a spoon to get a rippled effect. Put to one side.

Put the cooled spiced nuts in a sandwich bag and smash them up with the bottom of a pan or a rolling pin.

Preheat a griddle pan and cook the lamb over a high heat for 3 minutes on each side or until cooked to medium. Serve the chops in a pile on one end of a chopping board and arrange a bowl of houmous, the coleslaw and spicy nuts around them. Sprinkle with coriander leaves. Dip a chop in the houmous, then in the nuts and eat with the coleslaw.