We recently had the pleasure of attending Jesse Gerner’s cooking class “The Spanish Table” at South Melbourne Market’s relaunched demonstration kitchen The NEFF Market Kitchen (you can read about the class here). We enjoyed everything Jesse cooked up for us but were particularly impressed by this very tasty, Moorish influenced southern Spanish lamb pinchos morunos. What appealed to us was just how easy this dish is to prepare. Thanks to Jesse for sharing this great recipe with us.
Preparation Time: 10 minutes / Cooking Time: 11 minutes / Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 1kg lamb back strap or lamb leg, cleaned of all sinew
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 2 tbsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds
- 1 tbsp spicy paprika
- 1 tbps smoked paprika
- a pinch of saffron threads
- 4 cloves garlic
- 75ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lemon
- natural yoghurt (seasoned with a touch of garlic, salt & pepper)
Method
- Dice the lamb into 2cm squares.
- Toast the coriander, fennel and cumin seeds in a frying pan over medium heat for 3-4 minutes or until they are fragrant. Be careful not to burn as they will taste bitter.
- Grind the spices with the saffron in a spice grinder or pestle and mortar until fine and add to the lamb along with garlic that has been crushed in a mortar and pestle with a pinch of salt.
- Add the smoked and spicy paprika and olive oil to the lamb and season well. Let the lamb marinate for at least 2 hours in the fridge.
- Thread the meat onto metal skewers and grill on a charcoal grill or BBQ for 3 minutes either side. They should still be nice and pink inside.
- Squeeze a few drops of lemon juice over each skewer and serve with the seasoned yoghurt.
Notes
To save time, make the spice mix in advance and store it in an airtight container. You can use it as a spice rub on all kinds of meat, not just lamb.
If you can’t grill or BBQ the skewers, you can cook them on a stovetop griddle.