Ras al-hanout spiced lamb chops

When you’ve had a long and rough day at work and all you want to do is have a delicious hot meal, you usually turn to your local takeaway. However, this dish is delicious, healthy, and comforting and takes just about the same time to prepare as it would to order in or pick something up.

I love when you can throw a bunch of ingredients into one baking dish, stick it in the oven and come out with an entire meal in mere minutes, and this lamb chop dish is the perfect example. To make this dish come together even quicker, you can marinate the meat the night before in the dish you are planning to bake it in, and when you get home, pop it into the oven while you change and wind down. Less than an hour later, dinner is ready!

One of my favourite ingredients to cook with is the North African spice blend Ras Al-Hanout because it packs so much of a punch, you don’t need to add much to it to come out with some amazing flavours. This mix is spicy, aromatic, and smoky and works perfectly with a meat like lamb. To make this a complete meal, I add herb-roasted potatoes, which is the perfect accompaniment to any dish. It is my go-to side dish since everyone loves potatoes and herbs, so you can’t really go wrong.

For a quick and easy dinner that can feed 1 or a crowd, try these delicious lamb chops. I guarantee they are better than any takeaway you’ll pick up!

Ingredients

Potatoes:

• 3 medium potatoes
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 3 tsp. Italian herbs
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Juice of 1 lemon

Chops:

• 500 g lamb chops
• 3 tsp. Italian herbs
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 3 tsp. Ras Al-Hanout
• Salt and pepper
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon

Instructions

1. To make the potatoes, wash the potatoes and scrub the skins if you would like to keep the skins on, like I do. Otherwise, peel the potatoes and cut into large chunky pieces.

2. Place the potatoes in a baking tray and top with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well and bake on the lower rack in the oven at 200 C for 30 minutes, or until soft and golden brown.

3. To make the lamb chops, place them in a baking tray, top with all the ingredients and rub well into the meat.

4. Move the potatoes to the middle rack and place the meat on the lower rack in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes or until the meat is browned. Turn once at the 10-minute mark.

5. Baking the potatoes first should ensure that the potatoes and meat will cook and finish at the same time.

6. Serve with a fresh green salad or some cucumber and yogurt salad. Enjoy!