Dukkah Lamb with Grilled Eggplant, Chickpea Tomato Sauce and Labne

It was only on Sunday that I picked up the first three of the The Daily Telegraph’s mini cookbooks. Emphasis being on mini here which allows for the $2 price tag on all positions apart from Jamie Oliver’s mini Jamie does…, which was free! The mini book collection featuring 15 of Australia’s favourite chefs and cooks is a part of the Daily Telegraph’s / Sunday Telegraph’s Food Month running May 8 – June 2 (not available in QLD).

At $2, the value of the little books to an average you and I is great, considering the booklets are practically concise versions of the full $30-$60 books – pictures, recipes, the lot. The other book I managed to pick up on Sunday was Abla Amad’s mini Abla’s Lebanese Kitchen.

Pleased with my bargain-priced shopping, upon getting home I quickly flicked through the books for the night’s dinner inspiration. And while I admit I rarely follow a recipe to a tee, I was this close to committing to a number of Gary’s and Abla’s rich, flavorful, comfort dishes. Greek? Italian? Lebanese? Moroccan? Egyptian? I couldn’t make up my mind, plus I was limited to what was in the pantry and freezer. So, instead, I decided to mix and match:  Mediteranean! Perfect.

The result exceeded my expectations! I’ve turned from a lamb disliker to a lamb lover. Dukkah lamb lover. The meat was marinated and cooked perfectly on the barbecue. By me!  The eggplant was soft and lightly charred. The sauce was a flavourful, wholesome pantry number with fragrant fresh herbs, tomatoes and chickpeas – great for vegetarians.

Mr Chipconnoisseur loved the lamb too although he was slightly overwhelmed by the Mount Everest of chickpea sauce I served up for him. And he believed that there was not enough of the “white stuff” on the lamb. The “white stuff” being the garlic and paprika labne – a Middle Eastern strained yoghurt cheese. Creamy perfection, so I’ve adjusted the recipe accordingly. Finally, a grate of fresh lemon zest lifted the whole thing up with a fresh zing!

All in under 30 minutes, I guess Jamie would have been proud.

Serves 2

Dukkah lamb with grilled eggplant, chickpea tomato sauce and garlicky yoghurt cheese

Dukkah (duqqa or dukka) is an Egyptian nut, spice and seed mix served as a starter with oil and bread for dipping, but is also great for crusting meat. I used the  Hunter Valley Smelly Cheese Shop dukkah mix.

Once again, the number of ingredients may off-putting but to put things into perspective the idea started with 5 ingredients: lamb steaks, canned tomato, chickpeas, eggplant, yoghurt cheese. The rest are those flavourful spice and herb embellishments that turn an otherwise plain dish into a Mediterranean feast.

Dukkah lamb

• 2 lamb leg steaks
• 1 tbsp Italian herb mix
• 1 tbsp steak seasoning
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 4 tbsp dukkah
• zest of half a lemon, to serve

Side of eggplant, tomato chickpeas

• 1 large eggplant
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 1 can chickpeas, drained
• 1/4 cup piquillo peppers, chopped
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp tumeric
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 Spanish onion, sliced thinly
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Labne cheese topping

• 4 tbsp labne
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed

Dukkah lamb: Mix all ingredients apart from the zest and steaks in a small bowl. Spoon mixture over steaks and rub in. Allow to marinate while you prepare the sauce and heat up the barbecue to hot. [You can also grill the steaks on a hot setting under the oven grill for 5 minutes on each side.]

Side of eggplant, tomato chickpeas: Cut eggplant into 0.5cm thick slices. Sprinkle with sea salt and set aside to barbecue or grill alongside the lamb. In a saucepan combine tomatoes, chickpeas, piquillo peppers, cinnamon, tumeric, parsley, coriander and brown sugar. Bring to a boil then simmer for 15 or so minutes to cook the sauce down. Stir occcasionally.

Labne cheese topping: Mix labne with crushed garlic and paprika. Refrigerate until needed.

Putting the dish together: Barbecue or grill the lamb and eggplant for about 5 minutes on each side, the eggplant should be lightly charred. Allow lamb to rest for 2 minutes before slicing. Arrange 2 eggplant slices on a plate. Top with tomato chickpea sauce, sliced onion and extra parsley. Place sliced lamb next to it and top with labne. Grate some lemon zest over the whole dish and serve.