Grilled Lamb Kofta Kebabs with Garlic Yogurt Sauce

Is it just me, or do you get tired of cooking the same meats all the time? During summer grilling season I cook a lot of hamburgers (my burgers are famous in several states, thank you very much), chicken, and fish. When I’m having company maybe steaks, pork, or sausages and hotdogs. And of course, for holidays I might go all out and smoke ribs or pulled pork.

But one meat I love but sometimes forget about is lamb, and I think perhaps I’m not the only one.

The per capita lamb consumption in the US is right around 1 pound per person yearly (according to statista.com). Compare that to 57 pounds per capita of beef and 108.6 pounds of chicken!

Learn to make lamb on a culinary vacation in Turkey.

I recently proposed lamb for dinner, and my two sons asked if they’d ever had lamb before. They are 10 and 12 – was it possible I’d not made lamb in a decade?

The answer of course that they have had lamb before, they just didn’t remember. But it had definitely been while.

Instead of pulling out a recipe for stuffed lamb shoulder or roast lamb, I decided to satisfy my craving for Middle Eastern cuisine by making grilled lamb kofta kebabs.

Most people think of kebabs as being something on a skewer: either grilled and served on a skewer like chicken kebabs, or roasted on a large vertical skewer and shaved off like doner kebab.

“Kofta” usually refers to something like a meatball or meatloaf: that is, made from ground meat and spices. A kofta kebab is usually cooked on a skewer, but it doesn’t have to be. (It doesn’t have to be grilled at all, but can also be pan fried.)

I like to serve them with an aromatic yogurt sauce full of fresh herbs and garlic, freshly made pita, and a vegetable salad.

Lamb Kofta Kebabs

Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Cook method: Grill

Ingredients for the lamb:

• 1 lb ground lamb
• 1/4 cup bulgar wheat, soaked in cold water for 1 hour and well drained
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp freshly chopped mint and parsley
• 1 egg yolk
• zest of 1 lemon
• salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for the yogurt sauce:

• 1 cup Greek yogurt (5% fat)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• juice of 1 lemon
• good handful of freshly chopped herbs of choice (such as mint, parsley, and dill)
• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions:

1. Put the ingredients for the meat in a large bowl and mix together.

2.. Soak 8 wooden skewers in water for 10-15 minutes. Divide the meat into 8 equal portions, then form oblong meatballs with your hands. Insert a skewer into each.

3. Prepare your grill (preferably charcoal) for direct grilling at medium high heat.

4. Combine the sauce ingredients and set aside.

5. Grill the meat for 4-5 minutes per side, or until the interior temperature is around 160 degrees.

6. Serve with the yogurt sauce, freshly made pita or another type of bread, and a fresh salad.

Do you like lamb? How do you usually prepare it?

Try another wonderful lamb recipe: Ramazan kebabi.

By Peg Kern

Try our recipe for homemade baba ganoush.

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