Sheep are a big part of Irish culture and heritage. As a nation, we’re very proud of our lamb meat and it’s exported all over the world. I was brought up on a sheep farm, so needless to say I ate a lot of lamb during my childhood. So for these reasons I had to dedicate at least one recipe to lamb. I season the lamb meat with shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven spice) and serve it with a natural yoghurt dip, as we have fantastic yoghurt producers in Ireland who make excellent quality yoghurt.
Makes 8 skewers
Ingredients:
vegetable oil
1 medium onion, peeled and finely diced
500g good quality lamb, minced
bunch of fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 tablespoon shichimi togarashi
salt and pepper to season
8 skewers, soaked in water for 20 minutes
Yoghurt and mint dip
5 tablespoons natural yoghurt
large bunch of mint leaves, finely chopped
2 teaspoons lime juice
zest of ½ a lime
1 teaspoon olive oil
salt and pepper to season
Instructions:
1 Heat the oil on a frying pan on a medium heat and add the diced onion. Slowly cook the onion, allowing it to sweat, and then fry until translucent (do not brown). Remove from the heat and let it cool.
2 In a large bowl mix together the minced lamb, parsley, shichimi togarashi and onion. Season with salt and pepper.
3 With dampened hands take a handful of meat and using a firm hand form a rectangular shape. Push a skewer through the meat.
4 Place under a grill on a high heat for 10 to 20 minutes (or until cooked to your liking). Place a cup of water on the base of the grill to stop the meat drying out.
5 Mix all the ingredients for the dip together in a bowl and serve on the side.
