isithalal.food · Recipes

Lamb brochettes with apricot and pine nut couscous

Mary Cadogan's lamb brochettes: Halal lamb and apricot skewers coated in harissa, grilled and served with an apricot, pine nut and mint couscous and minted Greek yogurt.

Moroccan · Main · Easy · 8 skewers · 43 min

Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.

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Why Halal checks matter here

The skewers are 750 g of lamb leg or shoulder, which is Halal only from a Halal-slaughtered animal, and the minted yogurt needs a gelatin check.

Halal-critical ingredients

• Lamb: Lamb is Halal only from a Halal-slaughtered animal, and lamb without a Halal mark doesn't say how the animal was slaughtered. Buy the lamb from a Halal butcher or in a certified pack. See Lamb.
• Greek yogurt: Plain yogurt is milk fermented with cultures, but gelatin turns up in set, low-fat and dessert yogurts. Choose a yogurt with no gelatin on the label. See Yogurt.

Ingredients

Skewers

• 750 g Halal boneless lamb leg or lean shoulder, cubed
• 1 tbsp harissa
• 6 tbsp olive oil (1 tbsp for the lamb, the rest for the couscous)
• 8 apricots (4 for the skewers, 4 for the couscous)

Couscous

• 200 g couscous
• 4 spring onions, finely chopped
• 25 g toasted pine nuts
• 300 ml boiling vegetable stock
• 4 tbsp chopped mint (half for the couscous, half for the yogurt)
• 2 lemons, juiced

Yogurt

• 150 ml pot Greek yogurt (no gelatine)

Method

1. Make the skewers. Put the lamb in a bowl. Mix the harissa with 1 tbsp oil, pour it over the lamb and mix well. Quarter 4 apricots, add them to the bowl, mix lightly and season. Thread the lamb and apricots alternately onto 8 skewers.
2. Soak the couscous. Chop the remaining apricots and put them in a bowl with the couscous, spring onions and pine nuts. Pour over the boiling stock, cover and leave for 10 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. Fluff up with a fork and mix in half the mint, the lemon juice, the rest of the oil and some seasoning.
3. Mint the yogurt. Stir the rest of the mint and some seasoning into the yogurt, with extra mint on top if you like.
4. Grill and serve. Grill or barbecue the skewers for 6 to 8 minutes, turning, until the meat is nicely browned. Serve with the couscous and yogurt.

Allergens

gluten (couscous), milk (yogurt), pine nuts

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Lamb brochettes with apricot & pine nut couscous' by Mary Cadogan, which uses Moroccan spices (serves 4: 750 g boneless lamb leg or lean shoulder in cubes coated in 1 tbsp harissa mixed with 1 tbsp of 6 tbsp olive oil; 4 of 8 apricots quartered and mixed in, seasoned, and threaded alternately with the lamb onto 8 skewers; the other 4 apricots chopped with 200 g couscous, 4 finely chopped spring onions and 25 g toasted pine nuts, covered with 300 ml boiling vegetable stock and left 10 minutes, fluffed and mixed with half of 4 tbsp chopped mint, the juice of 2 lemons, the rest of the oil and seasoning; the rest of the mint and seasoning stirred into a 150 ml pot of Greek yogurt; the skewers grilled or barbecued 6 to 8 minutes, turning, until browned; served with the couscous and yogurt). We specified Halal lamb and a vegetable stock and flagged the yogurt's label; nothing else needed changing. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Photograph from our ingredient library: chicken souvlaki, not the finished dish from this recipe.