Spiced lamb kebabs

With minimal prep ahead of time, this is a meal that can be ready quickly with flavours that pack a punch.

I usually use lamb neck fillet as I find the marbling throughout somewhat self-bastes whilst grilling keeping the meat tender. I frequently find recipes and tips out there where they advise lamb neck is best left for slow cooking as otherwise it will be tough. But having made these kebabs for a number of years now, I can say the neck is one of the best cuts to use for these kebabs. By all means try other cuts of lamb that you can get your hands on, but look for cuts that have some marbling of fat/fascia through the meat. If your lamb neck comes boned, then first de-bone your neck and cut them into chunks that are big enough to skewer through. Remember – the meat shrinks after cooking so make them slightly bigger than the pieces you’d like to eat.

Now for the marinade. You can’t really go wrong with the usual spices like cardamom, turmeric, cumin and the like. Using a pestle and mortar to bash any whole spice releases their flavours. But you can also use pre-grounded spices from a bottle, or a mixture like I did. Add some salt in your pestle and mortar to add some additional surfaces for your spices to grind against – that’s also some of your seasoning done. Add some olive oil to your spice mix to the consistency of a thickish sauce, you want it to be runny enough to be able to coat all your lamb pieces. This is the only oil you will use on the kebabs and most of it will drip off during the grilling process so don’t be shy.

I always use either a zip-lock bag or a plastic food container to do my marinades in. They don’t leak and you can leave them in the fridge to marinade away without using an awkwardly shaped bowl that takes up valuable tetris gaps on your fridge shelves. Just a couple of tips though – if you’re using marinades that might stain such as turmeric, either use a disposable zip-lock bag or a food container that you don’t mind staining! Zip-lock bags are also great for ‘massaging’ the marinade into the meats without getting your hands dirty. Pop in the meat, pour in the marinade, zip and massage the bag away.

Leave your lamb to marinade in the fridge for an hour or so, longer if possible. I usually marinade around lunchtime (if on a weekend for example) then make it for dinner. Otherwise, you can also make it the night before and leave it marinating overnight for dinner the following day. If you have too much lamb neck fillets for one meal, you can also marinade it all and make them over a couple of evenings. 

Tip for wooden skewers – soak them in water thoroughly before use, both ends! Otherwise, the exposed ends with burn to a crisp under the grill and you won’t have anything to hold the kebabs with. 

When you’re ready, prep some veg to be skewered with the lamb. Onions, peppers, tomatoes and even courgettes are good spacers. Assemble the skewers, alternating between veg and meat or whatever combination takes your fancy and use a piece of your lamb to dot some of your oily marinade on the veg after they have been skewered. 

Place under the grill for about 15 – 20 minutes turning once in between. 

Serve with some grilled halloumi and a salad if you like. Happy eating!

See the full recipe