Master Chef Australia 2022 | Julie's Moroccan Lamb Recipe
This weeks Master Chef Australia 2022 recipe we recreated is from the "over-night-cook" challenge. Julie made a fantastic Moroccan lamb with many delicious side dishes. Featuring Labneh, couscous, smokey eggplant dip, Harissa yoghurt, pickled onions and chermoula!
Ingredients (6 portions)
Spiced Moroccan Lamb (Shoulder or we used leg)
2 kg lamb shoulder or leg, on the bone
2 L beef stock
1 red onion, sliced, 1 cm thick
1 bulb garlic, cut in half horizontally
1 orange, sliced, 1 cm thick
1 10 cm piece ginger, sliced, 5 mm thick
16 pitted dates
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmug
1 tsp sea salt flakes
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
Labneh
1 tsp salt
1 L plain Greek-style yoghurt
Pickled Onion
2 small red onions, sliced into thin slices
1 cup white vinegar
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp white sugar
Smoky Eggplant Dip
900 g (3 small) eggplants
240 g tahini
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tbsp juice 1 lemon
1 tsp salt
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Harissa Yoghurt
20 g harissa spice, or to taste (you can also use harissa paste instead of mixing spices, paste & olive oil)
40 g tomato paste
olive oil to taste
100 g plain Greek style yoghurt or Skyr
Chermoula
1 bunch fresh mint, leaves picked
1 bunch parsley, leaves picked
1 large bunch coriander, leaves picked
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 lemon, juice and finely grated zest
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
120 ml extra virgin olive oil
Jewelled Couscous
475 ml reserved braising liquid (or chicken stock)
150 g pearl couscous
1 orange, zest and juice
1/4 bunch coriander, leaves roughly chopped
1/4 bunch mint, leaves roughly chopped
1/4 bunch flat leaf parsley, leaves roughly chopped
juice 1 lemon
1 tbsp olive oil
2 dates, chopped
2 tbsp drained Pickled Onions
salt and pepper, to taste
mint leaves, pomegranate seeds and toasted slivered pistachios and almonds, to garnish
Method (we used a Crock Pot, Julie used her oven)
For the Smoky Eggplant Dip, cook the whole eggplants on a BBQ. Turn the eggplant regularly, until all the skin is charred and the flesh is soft. Place into a bowl, cover and refrigerate until cool. You can discard the skin, but we used it for extra smokey flavor. Place the eggplant flesh (and skin) into the bowl of a food processor. Add the tahini, garlic, lemon juice and salt. Blend until thoroughly combined, scraping down the inside of the jug occasionally. Spoon into a serving bowl and garnish with a swirl of olive oil.
For the Spiced Moroccan Lamb shoulder or leg, trimm the meat and season with salt. Combine the dry spices. Rub 1 tablespoon olive oil over the lamb then rub with spice mix, ensuring the lamb is well coated. Sear in on all sides in the Crock Pot. Take out meat and add stock, also place the onion slices, garlic, orange slices, ginger and dates into the Crock Pot. Transfer the lamb back to the pot and cook for 12-14 hours on a low heat.
Once lamb finished cooking transfer to an oven tray. It should be very soft and falling away from the bone. Cover with foil and set aside. Strain the braising liquid from the Crock Pot into a saucepan. Reserve 475 ml for the couscous. Bring liquid in the saucepan to the boil, and boil until reduced to a rich syrupy consistency.
Adjust oven setting to grill or used the fan force function in your oven.. Place the lamb under the grill or top element and baste with the reduced sauce. Repeat this process several times until the glaze over the lamb is dark and sticky. Remove from the oven and set aside to rest.
For the Labne, stir the salt through the yoghurt. Place the yoghurt into a muslin lined colander over a deep bowl. Cover with cling film and place into the fridge for 18 hours.
For the Pickled Onions, place the onions in a heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stir vinegar, salt and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil then pour over the onion. Allow to cool slightly, cover then place in the fridge overnight. Drain well to serve.
For the Harissa Yoghurt, combine harissa spice and tomato paste with olive oil. Then add the yoghurt, use as much harissa according to how spicy you would like it. Cover and set aside in the fridge.
For the Chermoula, place ingredients, except oil, into the bowl of a food processor and process until coarsely chopped. With the motor running, slowly pour in the oil and blend until the sauce is homogenous with some texture to it. Scrape down the inside of the bowl as needed. Season with salt, to taste. Transfer to a serving bowl and set aside in the fridge.
For the Jewelled Couscous, bring the reserved braising liquid (or stock) to a boil. Add couscous and cook until the liquid is absorbed and the couscous is al dente. Stir in remaining ingredients and transfer to a serving bowl.
To serve, spread labne over a large serving plate and top with the leg of lamb. Serve bowls of couscous, smoky eggplant dip, chermoula and harissa yoghurt on the side. Garnish with mint leaves, pomegranate seeds, nuts and a sprinkle of pickled onions.
ENJOY!