Turkish Walnut Lamb Recipes

Steps:

• Soak bulgur for burgers:
• Pour boiling-hot water over bulgur with 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small bowl and soak 15 minutes, then drain in a sieve.
• Make sauce while bulgur soaks:
• Mince garlic and mash to a paste with salt (1/8 teaspoon) using a large heavy knife, then transfer to a food processor and blend with remaining sauce ingredients until smooth. Transfer to a bowl.
• Prepare burgers:
• Preheat broiler.
• Pulse onion and herbs in cleaned processor until finely chopped, then transfer to a bowl and stir in bulgur, lamb, paprika, allspice, pepper, cayenne, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt until just combined. Form lamb mixture into 4 patties (4 inches in diameter).
• Broil pitas and burgers:
• Arrange pitas on a baking sheet. Brush with oil, then lightly dust with paprika and season with pepper. Broil on lowest rack until toasted, 1 to 3 minutes (watch to prevent burning). Keep pitas warm, loosely covered with foil, while broiling burgers.
• Oil rack of a broiler pan and heat 4 inches from heat until hot, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Broil burgers, turning over once, until cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes total. Serve burgers on pitas, topped with sauce.

Steps:

• Saute the onions in the butter for a couple minutes.
• Add the lamb and continue lightly frying until the pieces start to brown.
• Add the stock, cover and simmer gently for 1/2 hour.
• Meanwhile, prepare the sauce by stirring the water into the ground walnuts.
• Add the pomegranate syrup and sugar and simmer gently over a low heat for 10 minutes.
• Add the walnut sauce to the lamb, along with the seasonings and lemon juice.
• Continue to simmer, covered, over a low heat for another 30 minutes.
• Adjust the seasonings by adding a little sugar if the dish is too sour or more pomegranate syrup if it is too sweet.
• Serve with basmati rice.

Steps:

• Combine lamb, 1/2 cup onions, 1 teaspoon salt, pumpkin pie spice, and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper in medium bowl. Mix gently. Using moistened hands, form lamb mixture into 4 equal patties, each about 1/2 inch thick.
• Combine yogurt, cumin, remaining 1/2 cup onions, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper in small bowl. Stir to blend. Let stand 15 minutes.
• Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Grill burgers until cooked to desired doneness, about 4 minutes per side for medium.
• Carefully open pita breads to make pockets; insert burger in each. Spoon in yogurt mixture and tomatoes, dividing equally, and serve.

Steps:

• Mix the yeast and 250ml warm water in a small bowl, and leave to stand for 5-10 mins until foamy - this means the yeast is working. Put the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl (or use a tabletop mixer fitted with a dough hook and set at a low speed). Add the yeast mixture and mix by hand or machine until the dough comes together into a ball. If the mixture is too sticky to form a ball, add 2 tbsp flour and mix again. Knead for 12 mins by hand, or 8-10 mins on a high speed in the mixer, until smooth, then put in a lightly oiled bowl. Turn to coat the dough in the oil, cover with cling film and leave in a warm place for 2-4 hrs until doubled in size. (You can also put it in the fridge overnight, punch down and let it rise again at room temperature.)
• Heat the oven to 240C/220C/gas 9. Put a baking sheet or pizza stone on the middle shelf. If you're using lamb leg meat, blitz it in a food processor until it's finely minced. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat until hot. Add the onion and garlic, and cook for 10 mins until golden. Add the lamb and cook for 5 mins or until brown, breaking up any lumps with a spoon, then pour off any excess oil. Add the spices, some seasoning, tomato purée, tomatoes and the pomegranate molasses, and cook for 5 mins more, mixing everything together well and breaking down the tomatoes with a spoon. Remove from the heat and leave to cool completely. Can be done one or two days ahead.
• Roll out the dough on a floured surface into a large rectangle about 30 x 40cm. Sprinkle 1 tsp or so of the semolina on a baking sheet. Put the dough on top and make sure it can move around. Add the spicy lamb first, then top with the red onions, pine nuts and feta. Slide onto the heated baking sheet or pizza stone and cook for 10-15 mins until crisp on the bottom.
• Remove and drizzle with a little extra pomegranate molasses, then scatter over the parsley and pomegranate seeds. Transfer to a large board and cut into diamonds to serve.