Crispy Lamb, Labneh, Mint, Red Onion and Pomegranate
Say goodbye to boring salad recipes with this delicious crispy lamb recipe packed with different elements, textures and flavours. A truly versatile summer dish.
From the book
Ducksoup Cookbook: The Wisdom of Simple Cooking
Beautiful recipes from London's Soho restaurant, Ducksoup
A cookbook celebrating the art of simple cooking
Pared back dishes with a focus on flavour
Introduction
I think the combination of ingredients here makes a near perfect salad – there is just enough (but not too much) crispy meat to give the dish depth and that umami flavour, and pairing it with the cool labneh, fresh mint, onion and pomegranate seeds keeps the flavours clean and fresh. Lamb breast is a great, cheap cut but you can also use any leftover lamb shoulder you might have from another recipe you’ve cooked at the weekend. This works as a starter dish or main course salad, or as part of a sharing feast.
Ingredients
| 1 | whole lamb breast, about 2kg, cut in half |
| 500ml | lamb stock |
| 1 | pomegranate |
| Extra-virgin olive oil | |
| 1 tsp | dried chilli flakes |
| Small handful | of mint leaves |
| Small handful | of flat-leaf parsley |
| 1 | red onion, thinly sliced |
| 1 | lemon, jucied |
| 160g | labneh (see below for instructions on how to make your own) |
| Chargrilled flatbread or toasted sourdough bread, to serve | |
| Salt and freshly ground black pepper |
Method
To make labneh: Simply whisk in 1 teaspoon of salt to every 500g of full-fat natural Greek yoghurt (don’t be tempted to use a fat-free version as it won’t be the same). Pour the mixture into cheesecloth suspended over a bowl (you can also use a large coffee filter) to allow the excess liquid to drip through. Depending how thick you want your labneh, leave it overnight for medium-firm or 3 days for super-firm.
Labneh under oil If you leave your labneh for 3 days it will become firm enough to roll into small balls. You can then preserve them in olive oil and herbs. Simply add the balls to a jar and pour over enough extra-virgin olive oil to cover them. Tear in plenty of fresh herbs (chives, dill, flat-leaf parsley, chervil) and that’s it! Dip into the jar at any time of day – the labneh is delicious spread on to charred sourdough.
Preheat the oven to 160°C / gas 6. Season the lamb breast with salt and pepper and put into a large roasting tray. Pour over the lamb stock, cover tightly with foil and cook in the oven for 2–3 hours, or until the meat easily comes away from the bone.
Once cooked remove the lamb breasts from the stock and allow cooling. Keep the lamb stock as you can use it another day – simply pour into small tubs and freeze.
While the lamb cools, remove the seeds from the pomegranate by cutting it in half and then holding over a bowl, cut side down on your spread palm. Hit the back of the pomegranate with a wooden spoon or rolling pin so that the seeds drop out into the bowl. If you have trouble try turning the half inside out and gently coaxing the remaining seeds out with your fingers.
Once the lamb breast is cool enough to handle remove all the meat from the bones in large chunks and set aside. Heat a frying pan over a medium-high heat and add a generous glug of oil. Add the chilli flakes and then fry the lamb until nice and crisp, giving it a pinch of salt as it cooks.
When the lamb is crisp transfer to a large bowl. Tear in the mint and parsley and add the sliced onion. Squeeze in the lemon juice, add another good splash of olive oil and half the pomegranate seeds and season with salt and pepper.
Toss everything together with your hands and then gently coax the salad out of the bowl with your fingers on to individual plates. Spoon a dollop of labneh on to a third of the plate, and finish by scattering the entire dish with pomegranate seeds. Serve with chargrilled flatbread or toasted sourdough.
