Wraps, roasties, noodles? We’ve five mouth-watering dinnertime suggestions to make the most of falling-apart-on-your-fork spiced lamb shawarma.
The ultimate flatbread
Heat up the lamb shawarma, following the instructions, pull the meat apart with two forks and drizzle with the pan juices (never forget the pan juices!).
For the simplest, easiest dinner, place your flatbread on a plate and spread that deliciously garlicky harissa yoghurt sauce down the middle. Pile with shredded lamb, juicy tomatoes, chopped cucumber, lettuce and sliced red onions and roll up to serve.
Once you’ve got a taste for it, you’ll think of the other goodies you can roll up in that flatbread, or stuff into a pitta. Think textures… Crunchy sliced slaw, capsicum, cabbage, shaved fennel and rocket all work well with the succulent meat. Many traditional cultures add chips or crunchy potatoes too. (Chips in a wrap? Now you’re talking!)
A squeeze of lemon juice and some easy pickles (cucumber, carrot, red onion) add a bit of citrusy acid to balance the richness of the shawarma. If you grow mint, this is the time to use it.
And if you run out of garlicky harissa yoghurt, try tzatziki, sumac, harissa, hummus, or just plain Greek yoghurt and chilli sauce.
Tossed into, or over, salad
Shred that lamb and serve with garlicky harissa yoghurt over a Dinner Ladies salad for an impressively simple flavour-packed dinner. Anything with a hint of Middle Eastern flavours will work perfectly.
Try Warm cous cous salad with chickpeas and toasted almonds and herb citrus dressing; or Warm freekeh salad with caramelised pumpkin, pistachios and yoghurt-tahini dressing; or Quinoa, green pea, feta and crunchy toasted almond salad.
Or just serve over your own cous cous (go on, you know how…) and a simple salad of fresh baby spinach leaves in a shallow serving dish, covered with hot, just-drained peas (frozen is fine), chopped mint, crumbled feta and a dressing of lemon juice and olive oil. Incredibly easy, and the refreshing citrusy greenness counteracts the richness of the meat. Crunchy Fattoush salad would also be ideal here.
Mezze Plate
Serve on a platter as part of a large mezze plate, with hummus, baba ganoush, tzatziki, labneh, pitta bread and other dips and mezze, such as quick pickles, Greek kalamata olives, marinated artichokes, or grilled peppers or eggplant. Add fresh sliced tomatoes and cucumbers; whatever you fancy… A mezze plate is a world unto itself!
With roast potatoes
When you turn on the oven to heat up the lamb, throw some roasties or chips in there too.
While the oven’s preheating, scrub and roughly chop a few potatoes (no need to peel – that’s so 1990s – we all need the extra fibre!).
To save a few minutes, you can spread the chopped potatoes on a microwave dish and give them a blast for 5 minutes to get them going, then toss with oil, lemon juice, a little chopped garlic, salt and pepper and spread in an ovenproof dish.
Put on the top shelf of the oven while you heat the lamb below. In an ideal, synchronised world, they’ll be ready at the same time and the roasties will be crunchy and golden. Toss them with a little more lemon juice and some crumbled feta and serve with the lamb, garlicky harissa yoghurt and a crunchy green salad with a lemony dressing.
With noodles
While the lamb’s heating up, pop a large pan of water on and cook yourself a pot of silky pasta noodles (dried is fine, but fresh pasta is a bit special here!). Drain, serving a cupful of the cooking water, and toss the pasta with a little butter, salt and pepper.
Toss the lamb shawarma through the hot buttered noodles and serve immediately, with a crunchy green salad on the side.
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