Moroccan style spiced-up lamb kebabs with a yogurt lemon mint sauce

Delicious, juicy and perfectly spiced up, these lamb kebabs are perfect for the grill, or skillet. Get yourself the ingredients and cook up some Arabian flavored awesomeness. They take about 5 minutes to cook and are a great dish to serve up for a party with many guests as thy can be prepared in advanced and cooked right before meal time with minimal effort.

Use a nice lean piece of lamb like a filet or loin or a trimmed shoulder or leg cut. A bit of fat is not a problem actually and in fact adds a lot of flavor if you don’t mind it.

— Makes 2 portions —

Ingredients for Moroccan style lamb kebabs and yogurt lemon mint sauce

For the kebabs

• 400g (~1/2 pound) lamb, cut into 2.5 cm (1 inch) cubes
• 2 red or green bell peppers cur into 2.5 cm (1 inch) squares
• Bamboo or metal kebab skewers, if using bamboo skewers, soak them for 5 min before use

For the marinade

• 2 tsp sweet or smoked paprika
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary, or dried
• 1 clove garlic, grated or finely chopped
• Pinch of ground cinnamon
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp extra virgin live oil

For the yoghurt, lemon, mint sauce

• 6 tbsp yoghurt, use Greek yoghurt if possible but it’s not critical
• 1 clove garlic, grated or finely chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 lemon zest
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 4 mint leaves, finely chopped and bruised with your fingers
• Salt to season

Instructions for Moroccan lamb kebabs

Step 1: Marinate the lamb

Combine the marinade ingredients in a bowl. Add the lamb pieces and mix. Ideally let this sit covered or in a bag overnight, but if you are pressed for time an hour will work and I have also done these lat minute – letting it marinade for 10 minutes – with great results.

Step 2: Prepare the sauce

Mix all the ingredients for the sauce together and refrigerate till needed.

Step 3: Prepare the kebabs

Using the skewers, spike a piece of meat and then a pepper and push it down 3/4 the way down. Repeat, alternating meat and pepper till you get to the top of the skewer.

Step 4: Grill or pan sear the kebabs

Get the BBQ or your pan to a high temperature. Ultimately you want to cook these babies fast and hot to a temperature of medium-rare to medium-well-done as the meat should be pretty lean. It will take about 5 to 6 minutes to cook. You can always taste one to check how done they are. Remember that they will continue to cook a bit after you take them off the grill. So if when you taste them they are medium, when you serve them, 3 minutes later, they will be almost medium-well-done. When you are ready, add the kebabs to the grill or pan and turn 45 degrees every 1 minute to cook all sides. Continue cooking and turning till you get to the temperature you want.

If you are nervous about it, just cook one kebab as a test and time it. Taste and use those results to adjust your cooking times.

Step 4: SERVE

Serve your kebabs with a bit of yogurt lemon mint sauce and an awesome side like a chickpea tomato cucumber salad or this awesome quinoa, grilled vegetables, cucumber and tomato salad.

Do you have any awesome recipes for this summer’s BBQ sessions? Leave a comment below and we’d love to feature your recipes.