Penguin Books Australia

Lamb Skewers with Fresh Bay Leaves

SERVES 4

Children like to help assemble these skewers. The best family barbecues involve the whole family helping in some way. Although I've cooked the skewers on a metal grill over charcoal (see below), they are just as good when cooked in a char-grill pan or on the barbecue.

Enjoy these lamb skewers with a salad made from ingredients picked fresh from your kitchen garden.

1 red onion, unpeeled
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons oregano leaves
8 fresh bay leaves, halved widthways
4 small lamb fillets, cut into 3 pieces each
freshly ground black pepper
2 small lemons, halved widthways
4 flatbreads
juice of 1 lemon
sea salt

EXTRA EQUIPMENT
4 metal skewers
ridged cast-iron char-grill pan or barbecue grill-plate

Place onion in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain onion in a colander, then rinse briefly with cold water and, as soon as you can handle it, peel and quarter it. Separate onion quarters into 3-4 'petals'.

Place olive oil, oregano, bay leaves, lamb and onion in a deep dish and grind over some pepper. Mix lamb and onion around so that they are coated with olive oil/herb mixture. Leave at room temperature for 1 hour.

To assemble the skewers, alternate onion, bay leaf halves and lamb pieces among 4 skewers, finishing with a lemon half.

Heat a char-grill pan or barbecue grill-plate until very hot. Grill skewers, turning once or twice and brushing them with any oil remaining in the marinating dish, until lamb is tender. They will be cooked in about 5-8 minutes, depending on how pink you like your lamb. The onion pieces should look charred on the edges.

Warm flatbreads on the barbecue grill-plate, if using, or in a non-stick frying pan over high heat. Place a lamb skewer in each flatbread, pull out the skewer, squeeze with some lemon juice, then add a sprinkle of sea salt and roll to eat.