Wow family and friends with this Middle Eastern-inspired recipe. Serve cutlets with crispy lebanese bread and salad.
Serves 4
2 round lebanese bread
olive oil cooking spray
4 medium tomatoes, diced
1 large (or 2 lebanese) cucumber, diced
1 red capsicum, deseeded and diced
1 small red onion, halved lengthways and thinly sliced
½ cup continental parsley leaves, roughly chopped
½ cup mint leaves, roughly chopped
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp sumach
1 garlic clove, crushed
salt and pepper, to taste
12 frenched lamb cutlets
¼ cup za’atar
2 tsp olive oil
labna, to serve
1 To prepare fattoush, preheat oven to 180C. Spray both sides of bread with oil. Put on a baking tray and bake for 10 minutes or until golden and crisp. Set aside to cool. Break into pieces.
2 Combine tomato, cucumber, capsicum, onion, parsley and mint in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
3 Whisk lemon juice, extra-virgin oil, sumach, garlic, salt and pepper in a jug. Set dressing aside until ready to serve.
4 Put cutlets on a chopping board. Sprinkle with za’atar. Turn cutlets over and sprinkle with remaining za’atar. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. When hot add 6 cutlets. Cook for 3 minutes or until browned. Turn and cook for 2 minutes or until browned and cooked to your liking. Transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm. Cook remaining cutlets, adding more oil if required.
5 Add dressing to vegetables and toss until well combined. Add bread and toss. Serve fattoush immediately with lamb cutlets and labna.
Note: use purchased labna or refer to the labna recipe on page 163 of the May issue
ZA’ATAR AND SUMACH
“Za’atar” is the Arabic word in many Middle Eastern countries for both the herb thyme and a blend made from thyme, sesame, sumach and salt. Sumach is a ground powder made from the dried red berries of a particular rhus tree.
