Chargrilled Lamb with Lime and Mint

Happy religious greetings! Whether that’s Easter or Passover or just an excuse for chocolate...

I am fortunate that I have access to fresh herbs growing in the communal garden of our apartment. Amongst the flowers and vegetables, there is mint in many varieties- peppermint, spearmint, regular mint and Vietnamese mint (rua ram), which is not really a mint. My original idea was Salsa Verde, but the different types of mints on hand allowed me to produce something new. The result was a mix of English Mint Sauce, Italian Salsa Verde and a South East Asian combo of Lime and Vietnamese Mint. A fabulous threesome.

It will make life easier if you ask your butcher to bone and butterfly the leg of lamb. Of course, if you have those skills then you may prefer to do this task yourself.
Quantities for this dish will be dependant on the size of the lambs leg and the amount of people you are feeding.

Ingedients
1 leg of lamb, boned and butterflied

For the marinade
Garlic, finely chopped
Lime zest, julienned
Parsley, chopped
Mint, chopped
Sea salt
Fresh black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil.

For the sauce
Spinach
Spring onion (or scallion, if you are American)
Mint
Parsley
Extra virgin olive oil
Freshly squeezed lime juice
Pinch of sugar
Sea salt

Method
Remove the fat and sinew from the boned leg of lamb. Cut the lamb into 3, 4 or 5 equal pieces, depending on the size of the leg. Use a rolling pin to bash the lamb pieces into uniform thickness, to allow similar cooking times.
Combine all the marinade ingredients to taste and rub all over the lamb pieces. Cover and leave to marinate for as long as you wish.
Preheat the chargrill to very hot.
Scrape off most of the marinade from the lamb.
Grill the lamb, turning them once, until cooked to your liking.
Whilst the lamb is cooking, prepare the mint sauce. Wilt a handful of spinach in saucepan with a few drops of water, over a high heat. Allow to drain in a sieve. When cool, chop finely. The spinach is used to soften the flavour of the mint- allow your tastebuds to guide you. Combine all the marinade ingredients to taste and set aside.
You can prepare the sauce ahead of time, if that suits. I like to make it at the last minute to preserve the fresh flavours of the lime and mint.
When the lamb is cooked and ready, remove to a wooden board and allow it to rest for a few minutes. Cut the lamb into slices 1cm thick.
Serve with the lamb with the Lime and Mint Sauce and a platter of roasted veggies -Beetroot, carrot, fennel, pumpkin and potatoes in Autumn.
If you are reading this and it is Spring in your part of the world, a dish of Vignarola would go perfectly alongside.

Braised Octopus with Lemon and Mint

This is a lovely little dish for the warmer weather. Already prepared baby octopus are cheap and cheerful. All that needs doing is cutting away the head from the body and slicing off the beak. This only takes minutes so don’t be put offa preparing this. The fishmonger has done the dirty work for you. Note that in this recipe I only use the woody stalks of the rosemary and not the leaves. This imparts a soft rosemary flavour and doesn’t compete with the mint.

Ingredients
500g Baby octopus, prepared as above
Extra virgin olive oil
6 baby onions, peeled & left whole
1 dried chilli , crumbled
2 garlic cloves, whole but crushed
1 tsp dried oregano
2 rosemary stalks, leaves removed and discarded
Fresh mint
Fresh parsley
Lemon
Fresh pepper

Method
Place the octopus, onions, chilli, garlic, oregano, rosemary stalks and a splash of olive oil into a pan.
Turn the heat to low and cover the pan. Cook this slowly for about 1 hour. The octopus will cook in its own juices and will be tender and very tasty.
Fish out and discard the rosemary stalks.
At this point I take of the lid ,season lightly, and allow it to cool.
When ready to serve I add lots of fresh herbs, a squeeze of lemon and a splash more of oil.
I serve this at room temperature as a sort of cold stew/salad thing. Accompany with steamed saffron rice and steamed asparagus.
Variation- I haven’t tried it but I imagine some currants and roasted pinenuts at the end would make a nice addition.
Serves 2