Lamb With Harissa Fig And Plenty Lentils

ALTHOUGH figs are sexy, you could use apricots in a similar way or omit the fruity aspect altogether and just use the harissa paste. The Plenty Lentils have their origin in the eponymous book by Yotam Ottolenghi.

Deboned, butterflied leg of lamb (about 2.5 kg)

8 figs

6 tsp runny honey

2 tbs dark brown sugar

juice of ½ lemon

2 tbs water

1 tbs vegetable oil

4 tsp Red Harissa paste

4 tsp olive oil

For the plenty lentils:

2 cups cooked lentils

salt and black pepper to taste

3 tbs olive oil

1 tbs vegetable oil

1 large onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1½ tsp ground cumin

1½ tsp ground coriander

4 tbs coriander, chopped

4 tbs mint, chopped

2 cups baby spinach, shredded

For the lemon yoghurt dressing:

juice and zest of 1 lemon

1 cup full-cream yoghurt

Prepare the leg of lamb as in the recipe.

While the lamb is roasting prepare the lentils.

You could also prepare the dressing a good few hours in advance, adding the yoghurt at the very end.

Place the lentils in a large mixing bowl and season with salt, pepper and olive oil.

Fry the onion in the vegetable oil over medium-high heat.

When the onions become more translucent, add the minced garlic and fry for 1 minute.

Add the ground cumin and coriander, and cook, stirring, for another 2 - 3 minutes.

Add a dribble of water if you think your onions are looking too dry.

Toss the spiced onions through the lentils.

Stir through the chopped herbs and the shredded baby spinach.

For the dressing, add the lemon juice and half of the zest to the yoghurt, and stir to combine.

I like to spoon the yoghurt on top and garnish with the remaining zest.

The oily harissa is a great friend to this lemony yoghurt dressing, so when plating, allow some of the spicy red to drizzle over the yoghurt.

Cut the figs in half. Mix together the honey, sugar, lemon juice and water. Drizzle over the cut figs to marinate. Add vegetable oil to a hot pan and quickly put all the figs, cut side down in the pan so that they caramelise for a few seconds.

Turn the heat down to medium and quickly turn the figs over with your tongs so that the other side of the figs become acquainted with some heat too.

Remove from the heat and set aside until you are ready to plate.

Stir the harissa paste and olive oil together, in a small jug or bowl, until well combined.

For platter plating, spoon the lentils down one side of your serving platter.

Spoon the lemon yoghurt dressing over the lentils, allowing some lentils to be revealed beneath the yoghurt blanket.

Slice the lamb into thin slices and lay on the other side of the serving platter.

Place the figs all around and drizzle each half with the harissa.

If you had a clean, young fig leaf or

2 in your garden, you could place them beneath the sliced lamb for an added wow factor!

Serves 8.