Paprika Lamb and Ptitim Salad
I feel so lazy after Christmas. Oftentimes, I can't be bothered standing in the kitchen for ages, and I want something low maintenance. ENTER: Israeli Cous Cous, or Ptitim. My champion of pastas comes to the rescue when I'm in these moods. I thought I'd share this recipe with you because it's simple and doesn't really need to be babied. Also, it won't take me long to write the recipe: that is always a huge bonus.
This dish has Mediterranean flavours infused with a decent hit of citrus with lemon, lime, and a hint of orange. I don't know what cuisine this is precisely, but it works.
This will serve about four.
Tools
- Large Frying pan
- Roasting dish
- Sharp Knife
- Chopping Board
- 2 Mixing Bowls
- A cup!
Ingredients
- 800g Diced lamb
- 1 Capsicum - not green
- 4-5 Medium sized tomatoes
- Half a telegraph cucumber
- 300-350g of Israeli Cous Cous (Ptitim)
- 4 Tablespoons Greek Yoghurt
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp Lime Juice
- Dried oregano
- Paprika
- Coriander/Cilantro
- Garlic
- 250ml vegetable stock
- Rice Bran Oil or other frying oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- White Wine Vinegar
- Fresh Oregano - a small handful, sliced.
- Orange
Method
Preheat oven to 200 C
In a mixing bowl, chuck in your diced lamb with two tablespoons of paprika, one tablespoon of dried coriander, one teaspoon of salt and one teaspoon of cracked black pepper. Lug in a bit of oil and get stuck in - mix it all together until it's all red and delicious. Put into your roasting dish in a single layer, ready for the oven.
Whip out the frying pan and turn it to a medium heat. Line the bottom with a bit of oil, perhaps a 1/4 cup. Make sure it's all covered. Pour in the cous cous. This will form a pile of cous cous. Shake out the pile a bit and you'll end up with a shorter pile. I like to toast my cous cous like this - don't move the pile. Basically, the little dudes on the bottom will get a serious tan, the guys just above will get a little bit, and the guys on top will get non. This makes it look cool, and keeps the texture interesting.
Once you've got your cous cous nicely toasted, pour in the vegetable stock into the cous cous, along with two more cups of water. It'll boil until it 's all absorbed. Stir it occasionally, and make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom when the water is absorbed.
Try some. Are they cooked? If not, add another cup of water and go again. Once cooked, remove from the heat, and into a mixing bowl.
Put your meat in the oven.
Dice your capsicum, tomatoes and cucumber into interesting odds and ends, and stir through the cous cous. Throw in the oregano and a couple of tablespoons of vinegar, mix thoroughly. Salt the cous cous to taste.
In a cup, mix the greek yoghurt in along with the lemon juice and lime juice. Combine well with a couple of pinches of salt, pepper, and a pinch of dried oregano.
The meat is done when it's sufficiently dark and sizzling. Some of the juices will have come out. Pour those into the cous cous mixture and mix through.
Serve with a dollop of the yoghurt sauce and the lamb on top of the cous cous, with a squeeze of fresh orange juice.
Enjoy!
