Marinated BBQ Lamb Chops with Greek Salad

Back from my Grandmother’s 90th birthday shindig in Wiltshire the weather was absolutely glorious and I really fancied a nice crisp and refreshing salad. But I also fancied cheese. And meat.

BBQ lamb chops with a Greek salad (minus cucumber as of course I pathologically detest it) seemed to fit the bill perfectly so we scooted up to the supermarket to get the necessaries.

Ideally of course the lamb would marinate for a good deal longer than an hour but this was all the time I had. Regarding the marinade, use fresh normal thyme rather than lemon thyme by all means and if you can’t get Greek basil try fresh oregano or even dried (only use 1 tsp if the latter).

To my Greek salad as well as omitting cucumber I wanted to add some leaves to bulk it out a bit as we were both starving. You can add it or leave it out as you like but I found a Nigella recipe that I have used here which does include lettuce.

Greek Salad
serves 2-3

½ red onion
1½ tsp dried oregano
black pepper
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
100 ml extra virgin olive oil
2-3 medium tomatoes
½ tsp caster sugar
small pinch sea salt (I used celery sea salt)
1 ruby gem (or normal gem) lettuce
12 kalamata olives
200 grams feta cheese, crumbled into rough chunks.
juice of ½ lemon

Peel and finely slice the red onion then sprinkle over the oregano and grind over some pepper.

Pour in the vinegar and oil and toss well, cover with clingfilm and leave to steep for as long as possible - it should be for at least two hours but I forgot so it was only for about 30 mins!

When you are ready to eat, get the BBQ on and get started with the rest of the salad.

Cut the tomatoes into quarters, then cut each quarter into quarters lengthwise again and then crosswise. Sprinkle the sugar and a pinch of salt over them and leave to one side.

Tear the lettuce into big pieces and put into a large, wide salad bowl.

Add the olives and the feta and toss well.

Now add the tomatoes, the red onion along with its marinade-dressing and the lemon juice. Toss gently, but thoroughly, so that everything is well combined.

Serve alongside the lamb chops.

Marinated BBQ Lamb Chops
serves 2

3 tbsp olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp fresh lemon thyme leaves
2 tsp Greek Basil, finely chopped
sea salt & black pepper

4 lamb loin chops

Whisk together the oil, lemon juice, garlic and thyme in a small bowl.

Put the lamb chops in a freezer bag and pour over the lemon juice / oil mixture plus a few grinds of salt & pepper, turning the chops around to coat.

Pop in the fridge marinate for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Remove the chops from the refrigerator 20 minutes before grilling. Heat the BBQ to high and grill the chops for 5 to 6 minutes per side for medium doneness. Remove and rest for 2 minutes.

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Chicken & Artichoke Pilaf

This is adapted from a recipe I saw on Serious Eats where chicken braised in broth-cooked rice combine with Greek flavors like lemon, oregano, and feta cheese.

Nestling the chicken into the cooking rice in this way not only gives you beautifully moist and tender chicken but also rice that is infused with lovely chicken aroma and flavour. The lemon and feta brighten and lighten up the whole thing. And artichoke? Well artichoke is just delicious and also happens to pair terrifically with both rice and chicken.

Ideally the chicken thighs would have been skin-on and crisped prior to being nestled into the rice but I was trying to reduce the contents of the freezer and skinless was all we had.


Chicken & Artichoke Pilaf
serves 2

4 chicken thigh fillets
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
125g basmati rice
325ml chicken stock
150g tinned artichoke hearts, drained, rinsed and cut into chunks
1 tbsp fresh juice and 1 tsp zest from ½ a lemon
50g feta cheese, crumbled 

Season the chicken well with salt, pepper, and half of the oregano. 

Heat the oil in a frying or sauté pan that you can cover, over medium-high heat until lightly smoking. 

Add the chicken and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes before flipping and browning the other side.

Remove to a plate and set aside.

Discard all but 1-2 tbsp of fat from the pan and reheat over a medium heat.

Add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring, until softened, and scraping up any stuck on chicken bits about 5 minutes. Add the remaining oregano and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add the rice, stirring until fragrant and lightly toasted, about 1 minute, then add the stock and artichoke hearts and stir together.

Nestle the chicken thighs half into the rice and lower the heat to a simmer.

Cover and cook until the chicken and rice are done 15 to 20 minutes more.

Carefully stir through the lemon juice and serve sprinkled with lemon zest and feta. 

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Moussaka

Moussaka is one of those things that I have wanted to cook for absolutely ages (well since I decided that I quite like aubergines after all) and have just never got around to.

I must have been in a particularly nostalgic mood recently as similar to the last recipe I was inspired by my holiday in Corfu with friends and while researching recipes wanted to try and replicate the one I had there as best I could (in short, layers of aubergine and potato with not too much bechamel: very important). It became apparent that lamb, as I had assumed, isn’t the traditional meat to use at all. Veal it seems, or at least a mixture of veal & pork is the way to go. Maybe beef & pork.

Oh well, I’m all for authenticity if I can manage it but in this case I’m sticking with lamb. For a start I love it and personally I think it marries best with the cinnamon and herbs in use. I think that hand minced, or at the very least finely chopped, lamb shoulder or leg roast leftovers would work fantastically well here but sadly, for this attempt, shop bought mince it is.

The next main ingredient is, of course, aubergine. Now these days pre-salting aubergines isn’t required if your intention is to leach out bitter juices as the fact is that bitterness has been bred out of modern aubergines. BUT, salting will in fact help the aubergines to soak up less oil. And what you don’t want is an overly oily moussaka.

Many recipes don’t call for potatoes in the moussaka which to be honest I find a little odd as whenever I have eaten moussaka on Greek islands they are always included and always serve to make it more delicious. Maybe that’s the Irish in me. Regardless, there was no way I was omitting a few slices of spud.

I didn’t want bechamel either and saw a recipe where greek yoghurt and eggs are mixed together with a dash of nutmeg for a sort of custardy topping: sounds a bit weird but I decided to give it a go.

And finally do allow your moussaka to rest a while once out of the oven: it will be easier to cut and serve for a start plus I believe that the flavours become more pronounced when it isn’t blisteringly hot.


Moussaka
Serves 4, generously

2 tbsp olive oil plus a little extra
1 large aubergine, thinly sliced, salted and drained
2 potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 large onion, finely chopped
2-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 cinnamon stick or 1 tsp ground
1 bay leaf
1 tsp fresh oregano leaves
500g minced lamb
200g passata
1 tsp tomato pureé
½ beef oxo cube
150ml white wine
Small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
For the topping

150g Greek yoghurt
1 egg, beaten
40g feta, crumbled
20g parmesan, grated
nutmeg

Pre-heat the oven to 180C.

Place the aubergine and potato slices onto oiled baking sheets, brush with olive oil and season with a little sea salt and black pepper. Bake for about 25 minutes until golden.

Meanwhile, put 2 tbsp olive oil into a large sauté pan over a medium heat and cook the onion until soft and translucent. About 10-15 minutes.

Add the garlic, cinnamon and oregano and cook for a further couple of minutes.

Stir in the lamb and turn the heat up slightly to brown the lamb well, cooking until the mixture is quite dry. Break down the lamb further as needed with the back of a wooden spoon.

Stir in the crumbled stock cube, tomato passata, pureé and wine, bring to a simmer.

Turn the heat down low and cook for as long as possible but as a minimum 30–40 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated. Season and stir in the parsley.

Meanwhile, make the topping by beating the eggs into the yoghurt. Liberally grate in some nutmeg and stir through the feta and half the parmesan.

Grease the sides and bottom of a baking dish with olive oil and cover the bottom completely with a layer of potato, overlapping where necessary to ensure as complete a covering as possible.

Top this with half of the meat mixture, using a spoon to spread out and cover the potato completely.

If you have any potato left over, spread them out in a layer over the meat. Otherwise add the aubergine slices in a layer over the meat, again overlapping the slices to ensure coverage.

Spread the remaining meat mixture out evenly to cover the aubergine layer and then top this with the cheesy yoghurt sauce. Sprinkle the remaining parmesan over the top.

Bake for about 45 minutes until well browned and then leave to stand for 30 minutes before serving.

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"Saganaki" Prawn Fusilli

This is largely inspired in part by a prawn dish that I ate a couple of years ago while holidaying in Corfu with friends, saganaki prawns, as you can see here:

Saganaki (σαγανάκι) actually refers to various Greek dishes (usually meze) prepared & served in a small two-handled frying pan, itself called a sagani - prawn saganaki is one of the varieties, typically feta-based with a spicy tomato sauce.

I felt that the ingredients and flavours would lend themselves well to being served with pasta as a more complete meal, with the fresh sweetness of peas complementing that of the prawns and so this was born. Enjoy!


“Saganaki” Prawn & Pea Pasta
serves 2

160g fusilli
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
1 red chilli, finely sliced
olive oil
140g tiger prawns
100g frozen peas
10 cherry tomatoes, halved
40ml pastis (or ouzo if you have it!)
1½ tsp tomato purée
40g feta, crumbled

Cook the pasta, in a large pan of boiling salted water, according to packet instructions.

Meanwhile fry the garlic and chilli in a large frying pan with a glug of olive oil over a medium heat.

Fry until lightly golden, then add the cherry tomatoes and cook until they are starting to break down a little.

Pour in the pastis or ouzo and reduce a little then stir in the prawns, peas and tomato purée.

Once cooked, drain the pasta, reserving a cupful of cooking water.

Stir the feta through the sauce and season carefully.

Toss in the pasta, mixing it all together and loosen the sauce with a little more pasta cooking water if necessary.

Serve immediately - you can sprinkle on a little more feta if you're so inclined.

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Greek Lamb & Pasta Stew

I absolutely love this recipe- which I have cooked variations of before - the lamb gets really tender, the pasta soaks up the rich sauce and the salty feta sprinkled over is a perfect counterpoint. And, as is always marvellous, it gets chucked in the oven to transform into a delicious one-pot dish.

What I actually did here was freeze, at the point where it had cooled overnight, half of the stew and then used half of the amount of pasta, feta etc quoted to finish off (just in case you wondered from the photos). Be aware that you don’t have to cool it and eat the next day - it will just taste a bit (even) better if you do. Feel free to just carry on with the next stage at that point though if you don't want to wait.

And speaking of feta, Nigella throws some parsley or oregano along with the feta over the finished dish but I felt that even though this is supposed to have a Greek rather than Italian feel it would suit a sprinkling of gremolata perfectly so i made some and mixed that in with the feta before sprinkling over


Greek Lamb & Pasta Stew
serves 4

2-3 tbsp olive oil, plus more if needed
800g boned shoulder of lamb, trimmed of excess fat and cut into cubes about 1½ by 2½ in
1-2 medium onions (or half a massive one), sliced finely
salt
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
2 thyme sprigs, leaves picked
½ tsp dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1 carrot, peeled, halved lengthways, and then cut into 3 across
400g tin chopped tomatoes
200ml lamb stock
250ml dry white wine
freshly ground black pepper
150g macaroni pasta
100g feta cheese
1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped 

zest of 1 lemon

1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp olive oil

Preheat the oven to 165C.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large cast iron casserole and brown the lamb in batches over a medium-high heat, making sure not to overcrowd the pan. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon to a plate or bowl as you go.

Turn the heat down to low, adding a little more oil if necessary. Add the onions, with a pinch of salt, and cook for 10-15 minutes until soft and translucent.

Add the garlic, celery, thyme, and oregano and cook for a couple of minutes more.

Add the meat to the vegetable mixture along with the bay leaves, carrots, tomatoes, stock and wine. The liquid needs to at the least completely cover the meat and vegetable - remember you will also be adding pasta later so if necessary add some water too.

Bring to a boil, removing any scum that rises to the surface, and let it bubble for a few minutes.

Cover and transfer to the oven for about 2 to 2½ hours until lovely and tender. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Let the stew cool and when it is, transfer, covered to the fridge. Make sure you do take it out of the fridge again about 2 hours before you’ll be cooking and skim any fat that has solidified off the top.

Add 200ml lamb stock to the stew and reheat on the hob until it is piping hot. Add the pasta about 10-20 mins before you want to eat - making sure there is enough liquid & juices to cover all the pasta: remember that the pasta will absorb some of that liquid.

At the point that you add the pasta to the stew, mix the feta, parsley, lemon zest, garlic and olive oil together so the flavours can meld and set aside.

When the pasta is cooked, ladle the stew into shallow bowls and serve with the feta-gremolata in a bowl in the middle of the table so people can sprinkle over as they wish.

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