The combination of tender Australian lamb, Byzantine flavours, pomegranate molasses and tangy spicy harrisa yoghurt in this Moroccan butterflied leg of lamb is delicious. Your local Ritchies butcher has already butterflied the lamb leg for you – so it cooks in half the time. It’s also perfect to cook in the barbecue.

ALL the ingredients for this recipe are now available at your local Ritchies supermarket. Find your local VIC, NSW or QLD store.

Moroccan butterflied leg of lamb

• 1.5 kg Ritchies butterflied leg of lamb.
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons ras al hanuot or Moroccan spice mix
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 4 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

yoghurt harissa sauce

• 1 ½ cups Greek style natural yoghurt
• 2 teaspoons harissa chilli paste
• 1 medium garlic clove, crushed
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

to serve

• warmed flat bread
• lemon wedges
• fresh mint leaves, torn
• seeds from ½ a pomegranate

Moroccan butterflied leg of lamb method

Preheat oven to 190^oC or hooded barbecue to medium hot. Rub the lamb all over with olive oil and sea salt and place on a large hot frying pan or preheated barbecue plate. Fry both sides until golden brown all over. In a small bowl mix together the ras al hanuot spices, crushed garlic and olive oil. Place the sealed lamb flat in a small roasting tray and rub all over with the olive oil, garlic and ras al hanuot spice mixture. Roast in the preheated oven or barbecue with the hood down for about 10-15 minutes (depending on the size of the lamb), remove from the oven and drizzle all over with pomegranate molasses return to the oven or barbecue for another 5 minutes. When the lamb is cooked to your liking, remove it from the oven, cover with foil and rest for about 10 minutes.

While the lamb rests, make the yoghurt and harissa sauce. In a medium bowl add the yoghurt, harissa (to taste), crushed garlic and cumin, then mix well. Season to taste with sea salt.

Serve the lamb, sliced, with dollops of the harissa sauce scattered with torn mint leaves, pomegranate seeds and warmed flat breads to mop up the plate juices. If you’re cooking this on the barbecue, cook the lamb first, then add the spice mix and pomegranate molasses in the last 10 minutes of cooking to avoid the spices burning.

Serves 4. Preparation time 20 minutes. Cooking time 50 minutes.

Did you know?

Pomegranate molasses is a fruit syrup made from pomegranate juice, not sugarcane-derived molasses. It is a reduction from the juice of a tart variety of pomegranate, evaporated to form a thick, dark red liquid.