Lamb Main

Yoghurt and green chermoula hogget ribs

Name: Herby lamb ribs recipe
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 40.00 ml each fennel; 20.00 ml black peppercorns, toasted and roughly crushed; 500g Greek-style yoghurt; 6 garlic cloves; Zest and juice of 2 lemons, plus 2 extra lemons, halved; 100ml extra virgin olive oil; 375.00 ml roughly chopped coriander; 500.00 ml roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley; 5 long green shallot greens, chopped; 1 green chilli, seeds removed (or not, if you like it hot); 1kg hogget spare ribs, split into individual ribs (see note); Green garlic and spelt flatbreads (recipe in notes), to serve

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by Simone Watts

CHEF

Oct 30, 2023

“This recipe uses an often underutilised cut in smaller lambs, but as hoggets, the spare ribs are generous and juicy, especially when tenderised with yoghurt and green chermoula, then finished over fire.”

2 tbs each fennel, coriander and cumin seeds, toasted and roughly crushed
1 tbs black peppercorns, toasted and roughly crushed
500g Greek-style yoghurt
6 garlic cloves
Zest and juice of 2 lemons, plus 2 extra lemons, halved
100ml extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups roughly chopped coriander
2 cups roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
5 long green shallot greens, chopped
1 green chilli, seeds removed (or not, if you like it hot)
1kg hogget spare ribs, split into individual ribs (see note)
Green garlic and spelt flatbreads (recipe in notes), to serve

Method

1.

To make the chermoula, place spices in a blender with half the yoghurt, the garlic, lemon zest and juice, olive oil and 2 tsp fine salt. Whiz until a smooth paste, then add the herbs, long green shallot greens and chilli. Pulse until herbs have broken down (you want some texture). Transfer 1/3 cup of the paste to a small bowl and stir through the remaining 250g yoghurt, then cover and chill until ready to serve.
2.

Place ribs in a large glass bowl and pour the remaining chermoula over ribs. Toss to coat, then cover and chill overnight.
3.

The following day (4 hours prior to when you’d like to serve your meal), preheat oven to 200°C/180°C fan-forced. Transfer the ribs to a large baking dish or casserole with a lid. Use ¾ cup (180ml) water to clean all of the remaining marinade from the bowl and pour in with the lamb.
4.

Cover casserole with lid or cover dish with a double layer of foil. Roast for 30 minutes. Turn ribs, reduce oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced and bake for 1 hour 45 minutes or until the meat is very tender and starting to easily fall away from the bone.
5.

Remove dish or casserole from oven, then switch oven to grill and heat to high. Uncover ribs and add extra lemon halves, cut-sides up. Grill for 5-7 minutes until ribs are crisp and deep golden and lemons are slightly caramelised.
6.

Transfer ribs to a serving plate and carefully squeeze over the caramelised lemon, then discard lemon halves. Serve ribs with reserved chermoula yoghurt and warm flatbreads alongside.

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Recipe Notes

Begin this recipe 1 day ahead.

Flatbread recipe here. Use any saved long green shallot greens from the flatbreads in this rib recipe.

“In contrast to ‘spring lamb’, we give our animals a longer life in the fields. They don’t make their way onto our menu until the following year, at which point they are referred to as ‘hoggets’. The flavour, fat content, yield and ethics associated with an older animal are far superior.”

If hogget isn’t available at your butcher, you can substitute mutton – just increase the cooking time by 45-60 minutes and add an additional splash of water to prevent the sauce drying out. Likewise, lamb ribs will also work; just reduce the cooking time to 1 hour only.