I went to the grocery store yesterday for a major shopping. We were out of just about everything and it made everything seem appealing to me. They happened to have some great looking ground lamb. I immediately thought of this lamb kebab recipe that I had seen on Jamie at Home. J gave me the cookbook of the same name for Christmas. I just love his show, and I never thought Jamie was hot until I saw his amazing garden…yeah, I have issues. I love when he randomly cooks over a small fire in his yard. Anyway, when I got home, I realized that I actually didn’t have many of the ingredients for this particular recipe (including skewers). So, I turned the meat into burgers with a spice blend. I am not sure how the flavor of these compares to the original (I have never had sumac), but these were delicious. I cooked them in a cast iron pan on high until they were about medium, and they developed a perfect crispness to the outside. Although I added a good amount of seasoning to these, the flavor of the lamb really came through.
I served these with a light lemon sauce and roasted red peppers on a whole wheat flatbread with a wedge of lemon. The lamb is very rich, and I found the squeeze of fresh lemon juice was really essential. I think that next time a make these I will add a bit a bit of fresh greens dressed in lemon juice.
Spiced Lamb Burgers (inspired by Jamie Oliver’s Lamb Kebabs)
Ingredients
1 pound ground Lamb
½ tsp chili powder
½ cumin
1 tsp Kosher salt
½ tsp fresh ground pepper
1 finely minced garlic clove
Zest of one lemon
½ tsp paprika
1 tbsp fresh thyme
¼ finely chopped rosemary
Combine the ingredients using your hands and shape into four burgers. Heat a dry cast iron skillet on high. (I covered the pan when I flipped the burgers to help speed the cooking time). After removing from the pan, cover with foil and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
Lemon Yogurt Sauce
¼ tsp finely minced garlic
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Pinch of finely chopped rosemary
¼ cup plain yogurt
Salt and fresh pepper
looks delish!
These look great. I had sumac last fall in a recipe in a cooking class. As I remember it was a bit tart and lemony. I’ve made lamb burgers with coriander and cardamom and garlic – these spices give it a mild Indian cuisine kind of taste. I’ll try the chili powder etc next time Thanks
Oh my gosh, I want one of those right now!
Hi Jillian, it’s my first time here, and your lamb burger win over. Look absolutely delicious!
Cheers,
Elra
I almost bought ground lamb in the store today and am definitely going back tomorrow to get it for this recipe! Sounds delicious!
That lamb burger with roasted red pepper looks really tasty!