You must be Lentil mate!

You would be mad not to try to incorporate these little packets of protein in to your weekly menus, a must for any vegetarian out there. I have been looking to expand my culinary knowledge and find more recipes using lentils in dishes like dahl's and stews. 

In my pursuit I found this recipe from one of my favourite chefs of the moment. I recently caught up with Yotam Ottolenghi's 'Mediterranean Feast' on Channel 4 and have since done the social media stalker thingy on twitter.

This guy is my kinda chef, I like his ethos "Our food is familiar and straight forward, yet highly innovative. It is familiar because it is personal. It is made and served by a group of people who love preparing food as well as indulging in it, gorging on it, chatting about it endlessly. It is a way of life, somewhere between a healthy obsession and a bad habit we can’t kick."

This is a great vegetarian recipe, but being the beastly carnivore I had some lamb chops  I knew would go rather well with this recipe. I also couldn't resist a twist and a tweak, but only to the final garnishes. Serves four. 

For the lamb marinade (optional):

8 lamb chops/cutlets or 4 lamb steaks (tenderise steaks) 
3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 lemon, zest & juice

2 sprigs of rosemary chopped

Small bunch of oregano, leaves removed & chopped (1 tsp of dried will do)

Black pepper

Olive oil

In a large flat dish pour in a couple of large lugs of olive oil, add to this the garlic, lemon zest, juice, herbs and a good grind of black pepper. Place the lamb in the dish and coat well in the marinade, cover with cling film and place in the fridge. Ideally you want to marinate these for 8 hours, if time is of a premium try to give them at least an hour. 

Yotam's Lenils:

My Tweaks:

4 roasted garlic cloves in with the roasted aubergine flesh.

1 diced red chilli in with the roasted vegetables.

Some crumbled feta cheese in with the lentils. 

Putting it all together:

While the carrot, celery and tomatoes are roasting in the oven I started my chops on a very hot griddle standing them side by side on their fatty rinds until coloured nicely. I then  cooked them on each side for 2/3 minutes, brushing them with the marinade. As my chops were very thick I finished them under the grill to ensure the fat was crisp and golden. If your chops are small, or using steaks then do the whole process using just one of the above methods. Plate up as Yotam does, just placing the meat on top and garnishing with some extra chopped dill, parsley and coriander.