Because I usually have a recipe in mind when I go food shopping, it’s pretty rare that I come home with a rogue ingredient. But recently, while picking up ground beef and sausage for my Meatballs and Tomato Sauce at Primal Supply, I noticed that they had ground lamb, and felt compelled to buy it.
I didn’t exactly have a goal for the ground lamb, but decided to work with ingredients that I know work well with the flavors of lamb: cumin, saffron, mint, and cinnamon.
The result was Spiced Lamb with Saffron Couscous: saffron couscous, topped with flavorful ground lamb, pistachios, feta, dried apricots, and fresh mint!
Ingredients:
Couscous:
- 1 1/4 cups chicken broth
- 1/4 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed between your fingers
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 cup couscous
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Spiced Lamb:
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup chopped shallots
- 2 lbs ground lamb
For topping:
- 1/4 cup chopped pistachios
- 2 ounces crumbled feta cheese
- 1/4 cup dried apricots
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
- fresh lemon juice