Photograph: Ola O Smit/The Guardian. Food stylist: Sam Dixon. Prop stylist: Anna Wilkins. Food styling assistant: Louise Cassidy. Spicy lamb meatballs tucked into a jacket of fig, and a Levantine salad of chicken and grape with juice-soaked pitta There’s a giant fig tree in our neighbour’s front garden, which […]
Click here to view original web page at www.theguardian.com
Spicy lamb meatballs tucked into a jacket of fig, and a Levantine salad of chicken and grape with juice-soaked pitta
There’s a giant fig tree in our neighbour’s front garden, which we watch closely every year, waiting for the arrival of the fruit and our favourite season. Celebration is called for, and these spicy, lamb-stuffed figs are the best way to kick things off. We’re all for stretching a meal to feed the many, and a grape and chicken fattoush does just that. By adding crisp pitta at the last minute to soak up all the juices, you turn a simple salad into a summer showstopper.
Chicken and grape fattoush (pictured top)
The flavour-drenched pitta is the best part of this whole plate.
Prep 15 min
Chill 2 hr+
Cook 30 min
Serves 4
For the chicken
6 boneless and skinless chicken thighs (about 750g)
3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
3 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for the salad
1 tsp flaky sea salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
For the dressing
1 large banana shallot, or 3 small shallots (about 60g), peeled and sliced very thinly into rings
3 tbsp red-wine vinegar
1 generous pinch each salt and sugar
For the salad
1 pack baby courgettes, or 2 large courgettes (about 200g), cut into 2cm slices
1 punnet cherry tomatoes (about 250g), each cut in half
150g black grapes
2 pitta, toasted or stale
1 bag rocket (about 90g)
5-6 sprigs fresh oregano, leaves picked
Start by marinating the chicken. Put all the chicken ingredients bar the lemon juice in a bowl, cover and chill for at least two hours, and ideally overnight.
Heat a large frying pan, then lay in the chicken smooth side down (that is, the flat side that would have been covered by the skin) and leave to cook untouched for four minutes, until golden underneath; give them a minute longer, if need be. Flip and cook the underside for another four minutes, until golden.
Meanwhile, prepare the dressing: mix the shallot rings with the vinegar, salt and sugar, and set aside.
Transfer the cooked chicken to a bowl and cover. Add the courgette slices to the hot frying pan and fry for two to three minutes, until starting to colour and collapse. Add the lemon juice, cook for another minute, then add the halved cherry tomatoes and cook for a minute more. Finally, add the grapes and cook, stirring, for another minute.
Cut the chicken into strips and break the pitta into chunks. Put everything (including the rocket, oregano and the extra drizzle of oil) in a large bowl, mix together and serve.
Spicy, lamb-stuffed figs
The perfect marriage of sweet and savoury, stuffing the spicy lamb meatballs inside the figs gives them a sweet, fragrant little jacket. Serve with a green salad on the side.
Prep 5 min
Cook 1 hr 30 min
Serves 4
12 large figs (about 600g), as firm as you can find
For the filling and roasting
1 large leek (about 120-140g)
1 lemon
1 large red chilli
½ small bunch of thyme
360g minced lamb
3 tbsp breadcrumbs (we use panko, but any will do)
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground fennel
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
A good sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper
For the topping (optional)
Olive oil, for drizzling
Your favourite chilli flakes – we use aleppo, which is lovely and fruity
Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7.
Cut the leek in half, finely dice the bottom white part and cut the green top into thick slices. Put the chopped leek in a large bowl and the slices in a roasting tin that can easily fit 12 figs side by side.
Zest the lemon into the bowl, then cut the fruit into four thick slices, discard the ends, and add to the roasting tin.
Cut four slices off the top of the chilli (the bit with the seeds in it) and pop those in the tray; finely dice the rest of the chilli and add to the bowl. Chop the top leafy part of the thyme to produce about two tablespoons, then put that into the bowl. Spread the rest of the thyme sprigs on the roasting tray.
Add the minced lamb, two tablespoons of the breadcrumbs, the ground ginger, ground fennel, salt, baking powder and pepper to the bowl, then knead everything really well. Divide the mixture into 12 balls, each weighing about 35-40g.
Top the tiny stem off each fig and, using a small, sharp knife, cut a cross about three-quarters of the way down, so the fruit opens up but its wide base remains intact. Open the cross a little and push one lamb ball all the way inside. Press in the sides of the fig, so it encases the meatball. Repeat with the remaining figs and lamb balls.
Put the stuffed figs open side up on the roasting tray, sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of breadcrumbs all over the top, then drizzle with olive oil and a light sprinkling of chilli flakes, if using. Bake for 30 minutes, then remove, leave to rest for a few minutes and serve hot with some green leaves.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I was hoping you would consider taking the step of supporting the Guardian’s journalism.
From Elon Musk to Rupert Murdoch, a small number of billionaire owners have a powerful hold on so much of the information that reaches the public about what’s happening in the world. The Guardian is different. We have no billionaire owner or shareholders to consider. Our journalism is produced to serve the public interest – not profit motives.
And we avoid the trap that befalls much US media – the tendency, born of a desire to please all sides, to engage in false equivalence in the name of neutrality. While fairness guides everything we do, we know there is a right and a wrong position in the fight against racism and for reproductive justice. When we report on issues like the climate crisis, we’re not afraid to name who is responsible. And as a global news organization, we’re able to provide a fresh, outsider perspective on US politics – one so often missing from the insular American media bubble.
Around the world, readers can access the Guardian’s paywall-free journalism because of our unique reader-supported model. That’s because of people like you. Our readers keep us independent, beholden to no outside influence and accessible to everyone – whether they can afford to pay for news, or not.
If you can, please consider supporting us just once from $1, or better yet, support us every month with a little more. Thank you.
