RECIPE OF THE MONTH

Charcoalgrilled lamb chops

With fresh peas and a hot cumin and mint vinaigrette

There’s nothing like the smell of lamb chops cooked over charcoal – they seem to be made for it with the tasty fat lightly charring and crisping, the outside flesh caramelising and the centre juicy pink. Here chef Ben Tish has paired the chops with a simple dressing he sampled in Sicily, although there the vinaigrette came with broad beans and fennel fronds instead of peas and mint. Both versions are delicious

Serves 4

Ingredients

180g podded fresh peas (or frozen garden peas)

8 lamb chops, trimmed of excess fat

Olive oil Juice of 1 /2 lemon

150ml extra virgin olive oil 100ml white balsamic vinegar 1tsp cumin seeds, lightly crushed 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced Mint leaves, to garnish Sea salt and black pepper

Method 1 Prepare a charcoal fire in your barbecue or heat a ridged grill pan.

2Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and blanch the peas until just tender. Drain and refresh in iced water. Drain again and set aside.

3Season the chops well and rub with olive oil. Place on the barbecue or grill pan and cook on one side for four minutes. There should be a good caramelisation when the chops are turned over, along with a slight charring along the fat. Cook on the other side for three minutes for medium rare – the meat should have a good spring when pressed. Remove the chops from the heat to a wire rack set over a tray and squeeze over the lemon juice. Leave to rest in a warm spot for 5–7 minutes.

Add the peas and remove from the heat. Pour in the lamb resting juices that have dripped into the tray and check the seasoning.

5To serve, divide some of the peas, along with some of the vinaigrette, between four serving plates. Place two lamb chops on top of each pile of peas, then spoon over the remainder of the peas and vinaigrette. Finish each plate with a sprinkle of mint leaves.

TALKING POINTS...

Moorish by Ben Tish (Bloomsbury Absolute, ¤30.66 hb, published 18 April) introduces the incredible tastes that came with the Moors and were absorbed into Portuguese, Spanish and Sicilian cuisine – cumin, cardamom, saffron, coriander, ginger, apricots, watermelons and pomegranates. Big flavoured dishes with the sun-soaked, exotic aromas of North Africa and the Arabic world can be found in this exciting new book in which Ben offers his own interpretations of classic such as shakshuka, red prawn crudo, spiced venison and quince pinchos, woodbaked Moorish chicken, pine nut and raisin pie, slow cooked fish and shellfish stew with saffron and star anise and octopus and smoked paprika with black beans and rice. Yum stuff, and more of Moorish next month, too. The stunning photography is by Kris Kirkham.