Home made Hummus with Lamb and Pomegranate

I’m lucky to live in a part of Cheshire with nice restaurants just down the road. Lovely hubby and I will often come home, look in the fridge, look at the cooker and sigh. Then, our shoes will go back on and off we’ll trot. Something that always hits the spot for me is hummus topped with griddled lamb, and luckily, it is readily available within a 5 minute walk of my house – my ever expanding waist line is testament to that. I love it; the garlicky creaminess of the hummus mingling with the juicy meat just does it for me, all mopped up with some warm fluffy but crunchy pitta bread; well, you just can’t go wrong can you? Perfect.

But then I always believe you can improve on perfection so I gave it a try at home – and it’s so quick, you can go from chickpeas-in-whizzer to deliciousness-on-plate in just 10 minutes (plus marinating time). I try to use the best quality ingredients possible, this way a little goes a lot further. Homemade hummus should only be made with extra virgin olive oil and proper sea salt – you will notice the difference.

There is something poetic about lamb and hummus. The fresh tasting succulent lamb with the earthy chick peas, and add the fruity crunch of pomegranate seeds (which I might add is something my local restaurant do not do – take note) and you have all the sense and tastebuds covered.  


I served this with the Salty Shortbread with lemon and thyme, purely because I forgot to get ingredients for pitta, but it works well together thanks to the thyme and lemon marinating the lamb and the salt and lemon juice in the hummus. But I’m so greedy, I ate most of it with a spoon before hubby even got a look in! Oh well, next time be quicker Col. 

If you’re not drooling just reading this then get in the kitchen and make it. Barbeque your lamb tonight and pop it on your hummus for tea and bask in the sunshine as you do so – you could even be in Turkey!

Fabulous.

Home made Hummus with Griddled Lamb and Pomegranate 

(serves 4 as a starter)

For the lamb:

• 250g-300g lamb rump, cut into large chunks. 
• 1 tsp thyme, leaves picked 
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed 
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon (use the juice in the hummus) 
• Approx 2 tbsp Olive oil 
• Salt and pepper. 

For the hummus:
1x 200g tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed.
Juice of 1 lemon (use the zest on the lamb)
1 crushed garlic clove
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp tahini
Extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp water
Sea salt to taste

Pomegranate seeds to decorate

Note – Making hummus is a guessing game and a matter of taste. I like mine quite chunky with lots of olive oil and not too much garlic. Change to suit you.

1. In a small bowl, mix the thyme, garlic, lemon zest olive oil and a little salt and pepper Add the lamb and coat in the marinade. Leave to marinate for 30 minutes whilst you make the hummus.

2. In a blender, place the chickpeas, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, tahini, 1 bsp olive oil and 1 tbsp water and whizz until you have blended it all together but with a nice chunky consistency.

3. Taste the hummus and add salt to your liking. With the blade going, add more olive oil (or a combination of lemon, oil and water, if you aren’t an olive oil fan, but why wouldn’t you be?) until you get the consistency you like. For me, this is 1-2 tbsp more of olive oil.

4. Taste again and adjust the seasoning.

5. Get your griddle so hot it is smoking and add the lamb, reserving the marinade in the bowl. How long it will take will depend on how big your chunks are and how you like your lamb cooked. I like mine pink in the middle and my meat was cut into roughly inch square chunks, and it took around 5 minutes, approx 2.5 minutes on each side.

6. Tip the lamb back into the marinade dish with any juices and leave to rest, covered, for 4 or 5 minutes.

7. Place the hummus in a serving dish and top with the lamb.

8. Pour any juices and marinade left in the bowl over the lamb and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.

Enjoy!