This Persian inspired dish is so quick to make, pretty healthy and plays on all sorts of taste and flavour sensations
Ingredients
- 6 lamb cutlets per person (excess fat removed or better still french trimmed - keep the trimming/s for a lamb stew or mince)
- a little olive oil
- a little sea salt
- 150-200 ml cup good reduced chicken stock
- 3 tblsp pomegranate molasses
- 1 tblsp castor sugar
- 1/2 lemon juiced & zested
- 75 ml light olive oil
- 1 medium red onion, diced
- spices: (1 tsp ground allspice, ¼ tsp nutmeg, 2 tsp chilli flakes, 1 tsp ground cumin, 2 tsp whole coriander seeds)
- 1/2 tsp salt or add to your preference
- 50-100 g of fresh or, ideally really fresh, wet walnuts, skin removed and slightly crushed in a mortar & pestle
- splash finishing olive oil
- 2tsp rose water
- good of handful fresh mint leaves - finely sliced on an angle at the last minute
- chicory, watercress, radicchio & frisee
- chick peas, tinned - drained & rinsed (optional)
Method
- Preheat a griddle pan until it’s nice and hot.
- Rub a little olive oil onto the cutlets, not too much, then place onto the griddle for 60 seconds turn at 60 degrees and cook for another 60 seconds.
- Turn over and repeat so you get an attractive bar mark, then remove from griddle, sprinkle both sides with sea salt and keep warm by the hob on a handy plate. Loosely cover with greaseproof.
- Now, take a small sauce pan, place over a medium high heat, add the chicken stock, pomegranate molasses sugar and lemon juice. Cook until it reduces and becomes slightly syrupy, maybe 3 minutes.
- Meanwhile, take a frying pan, place on a medium heat, add the olive oil, the red onions, salt, the spices and gently sauté for a 30 seconds.
- Then add the walnuts and cook for a maximum of 2-3 minutes so that the onions still have a little bite, but no raw flavour.
- Take the pomegranate syrup reduction, pour into the fry pan, stir and cook for 1 minute on a gentle heat.
- Then, remove from the heat, add the lemon zest and any meat juices from the resting plate, then ‘split’ with a good slug of soft olive oil, rose water and the fresh mint.
- Place the cutlets on a warmed plate, dress the winter salad with some of the dressing, check the seasoning and spoon the remaining dressing over the lamb cutlets…simple, quick & absolutely delicious!
