For those of you that have tried harissa, you’ll know what an incredible flavour it gives to whatever ingredient you put it on. Until about six months ago, I’d only ever used harissa spice mix, in powder form. Then, I discovered harissa rose paste, thanks to Jamie’s Quick & Easy, and scrounging around gourmet supermarkets in Hong Kong. I now pretty much add to everything in one way or another. And I had been thinking of a way to marinate meat, that would give it great depth (and wasn’t just your bog standard salt, pepper and olive oil). I knew that harissa paste and yoghurt could be mixed together, I’d done it before with the cauliflower from Jamie’s Quick & Easy book.

And then, I thought…. well, lamb would be incredible with harissa, seeing as it is of middle-eastern origin. So, I bought myself a boneless leg of lamb (it was the easier option), and smothered the lamb in a mixture of harissa and yoghurt. I let it marinade in the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours, so give yourself time to prep this dish!

This recipe also works really well with chicken breast (I’ve tried it).

I know you’re dying to get to the recipe, so let’s cut to it.

Ingredients

1 kg boneless leg of lamb
3 tbsps 0% Greek yoghurt
3 tbsp rose harissa paste
1 green pepper, roughly cubed
1 red pepper, roughly cubed
1 yellow pepper, roughly cubed
1 punnet mushrooms (approx 150 grams), roughly quartered
1 tbsp harissa spice mix
1 stock cube
300 ml boiling water
100 grams couscous*

1. In a small bowl, mix the yoghurt and harissa into fully combined. Smother over the rolled lamb leg, and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
2. Once marinaded, preheat the oven to 160°C, allow at least 20 minutes for the oven to heat up. Place the lamb, on a baking tray, into the oven. Cook for 75 minutes for medium-rare, 85 minutes for medium, and 95 minutes for medium-well.
3. When the lamb is cooked, remove from the oven and allow to rest for 15 – 20 minutes.
4. In the meantime, place all of the vegetables on a grill pan with a good lug of olive oil. Sprinkle the harissa spice mix over the vegetables. Grill for 10 minutes, turning halfway through.
5. Place the couscous in a bowl with the stock cube. Pour the boiling water over the top, and stir until the stock cube has dissolved. Then, place a plate over the top to trap the steam. Set aside for 5 minutes, or until water has been absorbed by the couscous.
6. Combine the vegetables and the couscous, and divide among four plates.
7. Carve the lamb up into slices, and divide equally among the plates of couscous.

* The amount of couscous to water is a rough guess, given that I usually just pour in double the amount of water to couscous in a transparent glass jug.