Moroccanspiced lamb steaks with herby barley tabbouleh

This is a lovely way to eat lamb steak: a modest but flavourpacked serving of meat on a zesty, herby tabbouleh. The meat is rubbed with dry spices — if I’ve got time, I roast whole spices briefly in a dry frying and grind them myself using a pestle and mortar, but if I’m on the fly, I’ll use readyground spices.

Serves 4

1 large or 2 medium lamb leg steaks

(about 300g350g in total) a little olive or vegetable oil

For the herby tabbouleh

150g pearl barley, presoaked if time a large bunch of flatleaf parsley, tougher stalks removed a bunch of coriander, leaves picked a small bunch of mint, leaves picked a small bunch of chives grated zest and juice of lemon grated zest and juice of 1⁄2 orange

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil sea salt and black pepper

For the spice rub 1⁄2 tsp ground cumin 1⁄2 tsp ground coriander 1⁄2 tsp ground mixed spice a good pinch of hot paprika

or cayenne a good pinch of salt

To serve nutty citrus hummus, warmed dukka (optional) lemon wedges

Method

For the tabbouleh, cook the pearl barley in simmering water, according to the pack instructions until just tender (probably 2530 minutes, quicker if presoaked), then drain and leave to cool. Roughly chop the parsley, coriander and mint, and finely snip the chives. Toss the herbs, citrus zest and juice, olive oil and some salt and pepper through the cooled pearl barley. Set aside to allow the flavours to mingle.

Meanwhile, combine the ingredients for the spice rub. Very lightly oil the lamb steak, then rub the spice mix all over it. Leave for 30 minutes to come up to room temperature and absorb some of the spices. Then gently scrape off excess spice mix so it doesn’t burn in the pan.

Heat a heavybased pan or griddle over a high heat. Add the seasoned lamb and ‘‘dryfry’’ for about 3 minutes on each side, for nicely pink meat (cook it a little longer if you prefer your lamb medium). Transfer to a wooden board to rest for a few minutes.

Divide the herby tabbouleh between serving plates. Slice the lamb steaks into roughly 2cm thick slices and arrange on the tabbouleh. Add a generous spoonful of warm hummus and finish with dukka if you like. Serve with lemon wedges, for squeezing over.

Variations

Meat: Instead of lamb steaks, use beef rump steak or try spicy lamb sausages such as merguez, or strips of leftover roast lamb — fried and seasoned with the spice mix.

Tabbouleh: For a more classic tabbouleh, use cracked bulgar wheat instead of pearl barley. Or you can replace the barley with another cooked whole grain, brown rice or even quinoa.