Yotam's Merguez Variation

[quietwatersfarm]

Have just done these based on a recent Yotam Ottolenghi recipe (although, as usual, it has been altered a bit). They were very nice and I will be adding this to the list of Quiet Waters Merguez keepers.

Fatty lamb/goat or mutton (minced) 1000g
Two medium Red onions (finely chopped)
Zest of five preserved lemons 50g
4 tsp Sweet Paprika
1 ½ tsp Sweet Smoked Paprika
1 ½ tsp Cayenne pepper
4 tsp crushed ancho/chipotle pepper flakes
9 cloves crushed garlic
4 tsp toasted whole cumin seed
3 tsp toasted whole fennel seed
1 tsp caster sugar
2 2.5 tsp fine sea salt

soften onions in a drop of olive oil, then let cool.

mix meat, spices, sugar, salt, lemon and onion mix until sticky.

stuff in sheep casings.

[yotmon]

Hi QWF, I picked up 800g of minced lamb yesterday from Aldi that had been reduced by 50% as I fancied trying to make a merguez. I think the fat content is under or around 20%, does this sound too lean or would it do. If not, I can nip to my local butcher and pick up a bit of lamb fat.
Cheers, Yotmon.

[quietwatersfarm]

20% fat was what I used, added to some very lean mince I had.

Good luck with it and be interested to know what you think of the results

[yotmon]

Thanks for the reply - will do.

yotmon.