Roasted Lamb with Harissa Salsa, Tzatziki, and Flatbread

Does anything say Easter like lamb? This is a great sharing meal, you can make the salsa, tzatziki, and flatbread dough in advance, and have a drink with friends in the garden. There's less than an hour between the moment the lamb hits the BBQ and serving. I served this with some falafel for the vegetarians.

This works best with a lidded BBQ so you can contain the heat. Use good quality lump wood charcoal (no, not the bagged black shards of sorrow from your local Tesco). I have a smoking chamber which worked great as a flatbread warmer.

I used a cast iron griddle pan on the BBQ for the flatbreads over the coals once I'd finished searing the lamb. Allow the lamb to marinade for 24 hours, do it justice.

Ingredients

Lamb & Marinade

• Leg of lamb

• 1 bulb garlic, cloves roughly chopped

• 2 tsp harissa paste

• 3 tsp za'tar

• 2 tsp sumac

• zest of 2 lemons

• 3 tbsp rape seed oil

Flatbreads

• 350g self-raising flour

• 350g natural yoghurt

• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped (optional)

• salt and pepper to season (optional)

• small bunch of coriander, finely chopped (optional)

Tzatziki

• 150g natural yoghurt

• 2/3 cucumber, finely diced

• 30 mint leaves, finely chopped

• drizzle of garlic oil

Harissa Salsa

• 1 yellow bell pepper, finely diced

• 1 orange/red bell pepper, finely diced

• 1/3 cucumber, finely diced

• 1 tsp harissa paste

• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar

• 1 tbsp maple syrup

• 1 tbsp olive oil

Method

24 hours ahead of serving it's time to prepare the lamb. Butterflying a leg might sound daunting but it's fairly straightforward, I recommend this Great British Chefs instruction video. Save the aitch (femur) and the shank for another day (I use it for making soup). Once butterflied remove as much excess fat and sinew as you can. Slash the meat to ensure that the lamb cooks evenly

Once the lamb is prepared place the marinade ingredients in a large bowl and mix together, place the lamb into the marinade mix and rub the marinade into the lamb, ensuring that every bit of lamb is covered.

On the day of serving you can start on the salsa, tzatziki, and flatbreads. To make the flatbread dough mix the coriander, finely chopped garlic, salt and pepper with the self-raising flour. Add the yoghurt and mix with a tablespoon and knead it very gently to create a very slightly sticky ball of dough.

For the Tzatziki, finely dice the cucumber, finely chop the mint leaves, and add to the yoghurt, and mix with a spoon, drizzle the garlic oil in and boom, job done. Pop in the fridge until you need it.

For the harissa salsa, mix the finely diced pepper and cucumber in a bowl. To create the dressing mix the white wing vinegar, maple syrup, harissa paste and drizzle over the pepper and cucumber. Place in the fridge until just before serving.

Fire up your BBQ, place the charcoal to one side of your BBQ. Once you're down to embers you're ready to cook. Place the lamb onto the BBQ and sear it on each side (3-5 mins each side). Once seared, move the lamb to the far side of the BBQ and cook for 30 mins, turning the lamb over halfway through. If you are cooking the flatbreads on a griddle on the BBQ, now is the time to put it over the coals while you prepare the dough.

While the lamb is cooking, divide your flatbread dough into eight equally sized portions. Lightly flour a surface and roll out portions of the dough until they are about 2-3mm thick. If you're not using the BBQ, heat up a cast iron or non stick frying pan on a high heat. Once up to heat, throw the flatbreads on, one at a time, cook for 30-45 seconds on each side.

Once the lamb has cooked for 30 minutes, take it off the BBQ, put it on a chopping board and cover with foil for 15-20 minutes. Then bring it all together, slice the lamb, slap it on a flatbread and the tzatziki, salsa, and add fresh leaves and chopped coriander and mint. Amazing.