Moroccan Lamb With Couscous Is Jamie Oliver’s Best Recipe

Jamie Oliver’s Moroccan Lamb With Couscous is from Jamie’s Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals.

Jamie Oliver is on a quest to teach us how to cook healthy nutritious meals for ourselves and our families.  He has encouraged us to try his recipes and then when we have them mastered, pass them on to others so that they may also learn to cook healthy nutritious meals.   I love his philosophy and I love his cookbooks.  But most of all I love his Moroccan Lamb With Couscous recipe.

The recipe resides in the Quick Cooking Meat and Fish chapter of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution book.  The dish is a masterpiece full of exotic flavor and richness.  I recommend you buy this book for the over 600 recipes in this book.  I have only scratched the surface and everything I have made from Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution cook book has been over the top delicious.  You will not be sorry, I promise! The cookbook is marvelous and to date this recipe is my most favorite of his.  Doc loved Moroccan Lamb With Couscous by Jamie Oliver too and it only stands to reason that I would share this magnificent concoction with you.

Jamie Oliver’s Moroccan Lamb Ingredients

• 1 Medium Red Onion
• 3 Ripe Tomatoes
• A Small Bunch Of Fresh Italian Parsley
• 1 Fresh Red Or Green Chile (I used a Serrano pepper and it was perfect)
• 8 dried apricots
• Olive Oil
• A Small Pat Of Butter
• Ground Cumin
• Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• A Small Handful Of Pine Nuts
• 1 15 ounce Can of Garbonzo Beans
• 1 1/3 Cups of Quick Cook Couscous
• 1 Lemon
• 1 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
• 1/2 Pound Lamb Leg Steak (I used lamb chops and they were fabulous)
• 2/3 Cup Natural Yogurt, to serve (I used Fage Greek Yogurt, yum)

Prepare and Cook Sauce and Couscous

Peel, halve, and finely chop the onion and chop the tomatoes into chunks.

Roughly chop the parsley, stalks and all, and halve, seed and finely chop the chile

Finely slice the dried apricots

Put a frying pan on high heat and add a lug of oil

Add your onions, chilies, apricots and butter and cook until the onions soften slightly

Add 2 teaspoons cumin and a pinch of salt and pepper, pine nuts and stir. (I used sea salt and coarsely ground pepper)

Add tomatoes, most of the parsley and the garbanzo beans, with all their juice and an extra 1/4 cup of water

Leave the sauce to bubble away for about 5 minutes

While your sauce is simmering, put your couscous into a bowl and pour in just enough boiling water to cover (no more)

Add a pinch of salt and pepper (I used a heaping teaspoon of both)

Squeeze a lemon over the top of the couscous and drizzle a little olive oil over the top.

Cover the bowl with aluminum foil and set aside for 5-8 minutes.

Then go back to your sauce and use a spoon to mash it up a bit.

When it looks quite saucy add a pinch  more of salt and pepper and finish it off with the tablespoon of balsamic vinegar.

To Prepare and Cook Your Lamb

(I did get a bit off recipe here and we put the lamb on the BBQ….highly recommended).

Put a second frying pan over a high heat and let it get really hot.

On a chopping board, cut the lamb into roughly one inch cubes (we used lamb chops and did not cut).

Sprinkle the board with a little cumin, salt, and pepper (we used whole cumin seeds, highly recommended, full of flavor).

Coat the meat with the seasoning and push down with your hand to flatten the cubes into medallions (we obviously did not do this)

Add a few lugs of olive oil and your lamb to the hot pan.  Cook for about 2 minutes on  each side until lovely and golden. (or put on the BBQ for a rich full flavor and cook to your desired doneness)

Doc and I agreed it was the best lamb we had ever tasted anywhere.  We bought ours at Costco by the way.  It was beautiful!

To Serve Your JaMIE oLIVER’S Moroccan Lamb With Couscous

Uncover the couscous and fluff it with a fork.  Spoon the couscous onto your plate.

Put a few lamb medallions next to it with a nice amount of sauce.

Sprinkle with the remaining parsley and serve with a dollop of natural yogurt (I used Fage greek yogurt which is fabulous)

Put a drizzle of olive oil over the top and any juices from the meat pan.

Enjoy Jamie Oliver’s Moroccan Lamb With Couscous!