Lamb heart, blood orange and feta couscous salad
This colourful lamb heart salad takes inspiration from North African flavours with its ras el hanout marinade and chermoula dressing. Blood oranges are only available in the winter, so feel free to use regular oranges if you can't find them. And if you're feeling a bit squeamish about preparing lamb heart, you can sub it out for regular lamb steaks instead – although we thoroughly recommend giving it a go, as it's a cheap and underused cut that is full of flavour without being 'offaly'!
Read our how to prepare lamb heart guide for a complete breakdown on how to get it ready for cooking.
Ingredients
Metric
Imperial
Lamb heart
- 1 lamb heart
- 1 tsp ras el hanout
- 1 dash of olive oil
- 1 pinch of sea salt
Chermoula
- 25g of chopped coriander
- 10g of chopped parsley
- 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
- 1 small preserved lemon, or half a larger one, quartered and pips removed
- 40g of olive oil
- 1 pinch of paprika
- 1 pinch of ground cumin
- lemon juice, to taste
- sea salt, to taste
Salad
- 100g of giant couscous
- 400g of chicken stock
- 20g of red onion, very finely sliced
- 1 blood orange
- 40g of feta
- 1 tbsp of pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
Equipment
- Blender
Method
Begin by marinating the lamb heart. Sprinkle it with the ras el hanout and a pinch of salt and set aside at room temperature whilst you prepare the rest of the dish
- 1 lamb heart
- 1 tsp ras el hanout
- 1 pinch of sea salt
Bring the chicken stock to the boil, then cook the couscous in it for 7-10 minutes until tender but still with a little bite. Drain and leave to cool
- 400g of chicken stock
- 100g of giant couscous
To make the chermoula, place all the ingredients in a blender and blitz into a rough dressing. Taste and season with salt and fresh lemon juice
- 25g of chopped coriander
- 10g of chopped parsley
- 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
- 1 small preserved lemon, or half a larger one, quartered and pips removed
- 40g of olive oil
- 1 pinch of paprika
- 1 pinch of ground cumin
- lemon juice, to taste
- sea salt, to taste
Mix most of the chermoula through the couscous, leaving some to drizzle over the top at the end
Finely slice the red onion and place in a bowl of cold water to remove some of the astringency. Top and tail the blood orange, slice off the skin and any white pith, then turn on the board and slice into thin wheels
- 20g of red onion, very finely sliced
- 1 blood orange
Now you are ready to prepare and cook the lamb heart. This can seem a little visceral, but it's actually quite easy! You need to trim away any fat on the outside, then cut it into 3 separate 'steaks'. For a full guide on how to do this, take a look at our step-by-step guide here
With your lamb heart prepped and separated into 3 steaks, place a frying pan over a high heat with a dash of oil. Once smoking hot, add the lamb heart steaks. Cook for 1 minute then flip over; after another 30 seconds remove the thinner steak, then after 30 seconds more remove the remaining steaks. Leave to rest before carving
- 1 dash of olive oil
To assemble the salad, drain the onions and mix through the couscous. Spoon onto a serving platter and top with the blood orange slices. Carve the lamb heart into slices, sprinkle with a little salt and add to the salad. Finish by crumbling the feta over the top, drizzle with more chermoula and scatter over the chopped pistachios
- 40g of feta
- 1 tbsp of pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
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