LAMB STUFFED PEPPERS WITH APRICOT HARISSA AND TAHINI SAUCE
Cook: 70 minutes
Q & A WITH SOPHIE RUSHTON-Smith
How did you learn to cook?
My mother is a wonderful cook and host, preparing delicious feasts for friends and family. As a child, I loved helping her, starting with the washing up. The ultimate praise was when she asked me to make the pudding – a cinnamon-spiced apple strudel – for one of her parties.
What is your favourite type of food?
My favourite cuisine is Middle Eastern. I love the wonderful spicy aromas, the meltingly soft sticky lamb, the fluffy charred bread, and the array of fresh vegetables. I remember buying the first Ottolenghi cookbook, which transformed my cooking, introducing me to exotic new ingredients and encouraging me to make vegetables, rather than meat, the stars of the show.
What's your favourite dish to cook?
I like to cook simple, plentiful food, for sharing. I love food that’s fresh and vibrant, with layers of flavour and a variety of textures. Occasionally I’ll cook more complex classics, often as a challenge to conqueror something new.
What would be your last meal on earth?
My last meal on earth would have to include the very best sourdough bread, blackened and crusty at the edges and full of holes into which I’d pour peppery extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt flakes. I’d have it alongside a plate of fat ripe tomatoes and anchovies el matrimonio.
What is the first Belazu product you ever tried?
The first Belazu product was the rose harissa – a fabulous, versatile paste that’s always to be found in my store cupboard.
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For the Stuffed Peppers
3 medium shallots -
2 large cloves of garlic
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Early harvest extra virgin olive oil
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400g lamb mince
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1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
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1 tsp ground cumin
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1 tbsp sweet smoked paprika
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1 tsp sea salt
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¼ tsp ground black pepper
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1 tbsp Belazu apricot harissa
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2 tbsp tomato purée
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40g pine nuts
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2-3 red bell or Romano peppers
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2 tbsp chopped parsley
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Tomato Sauce
400g can tomato polpa (crushed tomatoes) -
1/2 tsp sea salt
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Fresh ground black pepper
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1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
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1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
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Tahini sauce
3 Belazu preserved lemons -
1/2 garlic clove
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100g Belazu tahini
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100ml cold water
- Step 0: Preheat the oven to 180 C/160 C fan.
- Step 1: Cut the peppers in half, top to bottom, and lay them cut side up in an ovenproof dish that will snugly fit them in one layer. Drizzle with a little olive oil, season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and roast for 30 minutes.
- Step 2: While the peppers are roasting peel and finely chop the shallots, and peel and crush the garlic. Add a splash of olive oil to a non-stick saucepan on a low heat. Sweat the onion and garlic for 5 minutes, until the onion has softened.
- Step 3: Turn up the heat and add the lamb mince. Break up the mince with a wooden spoon and cook until brown. Add the spices, salt and pepper and cook for a couple of minutes. Stir through the apricot harissa, tomato purée and pine nuts and cook for another couple of minutes.
- Step 4: Remove the baked peppers from the baking dish and set aside. Mix the tomato sauce ingredients in the base of the dish. Place the roasted peppers in the tomato sauce and fill with the spiced lamb. Cover and bake for 30 minutes.
- Step 5: Cut the preserved lemons in half and scrape out the flesh, removing all pips. Chop the flesh finely. Thinly slice the zest and set aside. Peel and crush the garlic. Pour the tahini into a small bowl, add the chopped lemon flesh and the garlic. Slowly whisk in the cold water, until you reach the consistency of double cream. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
- Step 6: Drizzle the baked peppers with the tahini sauce and sprinkle over the preserved lemon zest and chopped parsley. Serve with couscous and extra tahini sauce.
