Anne Morgan At a barbecue, Delia Smith’s lamb kebabs feed 4 people, and she rates them as perhaps the best barbecue food of all. You marinate cubes of lamb in lemon, olive oil, garlic, oregano and bay, then thread them with onion, pepper, mushrooms and tomato. They need a few hours in the marinade, ideally a whole night, then 15 to 20 minutes on the grill.
You’ll find them in the barbecue chapter of her Complete Cookery Course, in the 1983 and 1992 editions. If the weather turns, she says they still taste good under an indoor grill.
She leaves a little fat on the cubes, because it keeps them juicy. When they are ready, the outside is charred and the middle is still pink.
Delia Smith’s Lamb Kebabs
Course: DinnerCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy4
servings25
minutes20
minutes440
kcalBite-sized lamb marinated with lemon, garlic, dried oregano and bay, then grilled on flat skewers between mushrooms, tomato, onion and pepper. Lemon quarters go on the side.
Ingredients
- For the kebabs:
700g (1½lb) fillet end of leg of lamb, or pieces from a boned-out shoulder
6 small bay leaves
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 medium onion
1 small green or red pepper, deseeded
juice of 1 large lemon
6 tablespoons olive oil
8 small mushrooms
4 small tomatoes, halved
salt and freshly milled black pepper
- To serve:
1 large lemon, quartered
Directions
- Cut: Cut the lamb into small bite-sized pieces, leaving some of the fat on. Put them in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.
- Flavour: Snip the bay leaves in half and add them with the garlic and oregano. Peel and quarter the onion, separate the layers and add them, with the pepper cut into 1cm (½in) pieces.
- Marinate: Pour over the lemon juice, then the olive oil. Cover the bowl with a cloth and leave it for several hours or overnight, stirring now and then.
- Heat: Get the charcoal hot, or heat the grill.
- Thread: On each skewer, thread a mushroom and half a tomato, with the rounded end towards the handle. Then add meat, half a bay leaf, onion and pepper in turn until the skewer is nearly full.
- Finish: End each skewer with the other tomato half and another mushroom. Push gently from both ends, so everything is packed as tightly as possible.
- Grill: Grill the kebabs for about 15 to 20 minutes, turning them and basting them with the marinade, until charred outside and pink inside.
- Serve: Serve them with the lemon quarters.
Notes
- Delia prefers flat skewers to twisted or round ones.
- With 8 mushrooms and 8 tomato halves, this makes 4 kebabs, one for each person.
FAQs
What did Delia change in her later lamb kebabs?
Her later version uses fresh rosemary instead of dried oregano. Her Lamb Kebabs with Lemon and Rosemary first appeared in Sainsbury’s Magazine in 1996, and they are on her website today.
That version adds grated lemon zest to 4 tablespoons of juice and uses 8 tablespoons of olive oil. It also uses chestnut mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, a yellow pepper and a red onion, threaded on wooden skewers soaked for 20 minutes.
She likes to serve it with brown basmati rice and some tzatziki.
Which cut of lamb is best for kebabs?
The fillet end of the leg, which she says is ideal here in her 1996 version. Her Cookery Course also allows pieces from a boned-out shoulder.
On the bone, buy about 1kg of fillet end to get 700g of meat, as her website version says. To roast a whole joint instead, see her lamb shoulder recipe.
How long should I marinate lamb kebabs?
Overnight is best, though a few hours will do. Turn the cubes now and then, so they all spend time in the lemon and oil.
Her later grilling guide gives a similar marinade for cubes cut from leg steaks. It uses a dessertspoon of chopped oregano and slivers of onion, and the meat sits overnight.
Does it serve 4 or 6?
It depends on the edition. The 1983 Complete Cookery Course says 4 to 6 people, with 12 small mushrooms instead of 8.
The 1992 edition keeps the same 700g of lamb but says 4 people. For 6, my own tip is to add a few more mushrooms and tomatoes and make 6 shorter skewers.
What are her spiced lamb and cashew kebabs?
They are a different kebab from her Summer Collection, for 4 people, based on one she ate at a restaurant in Hong Kong. The lamb is minced, not cubed, as in her lamb koftas.
Toast a teaspoon each of cumin and coriander seeds, then crush them. Blend 350g of neck fillet with a small onion, a garlic clove and 110g of salted cashews. Add 3 tablespoons of chopped coriander, the juice of half a lime, a green chilli and the spices.
Roll 12 small sausage shapes, put 3 on each skewer and chill them for at least 2 hours. Brush them with oil and grill them for about 5 minutes on each side.
Can I make them with pork?
Yes. In How to Cook Book Two, Delia says the same marinade works for cubed pork, with a dessertspoon of crushed rosemary.
Pork needs about 5 minutes more on the grill than lamb, and for vegetarians at the same barbecue she makes halloumi kebabs.
