Middle Eastern lamb in cabbage leaves

From Healthy Eating for IBS by Sophie Braimbridge and Erica Jankovich RRP $29.99, published by Kyle Cathie and available at all good bookstores.

• 250g cooked leg of lamb, trimmed of any fat
  
• 50g bulghur wheat
  
• 50g pinenuts or hazel nuts, roasted in a medium oven for ten minutes and coarsely chopped
  
• 2 heaped tablespoons coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
  
• 1 red pepper, deseeded and diced
  
• Juice of 2 large lemons (10 tablespoons)
  
• 1 tablespoon sumac (or grated lemon zest if unavailable
  
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  
• About 16 – 20 cabbage leaves

I always love recipes that use up leftovers and this is much more glamorous than shepherd’s pie! Sumac is a spice that can be easily found in any Middle Eastern grocery store.


Serves: 4 as a main or 6 as a starter

Soak the bulghur wheat in enough boiling water just to cover. Leave for 10 minutes until it softens, drain in colander for a few minutes if the water has not been soaked up, and press briefly to remove any excess water.

Place the minced lamb in a bowl and add the bulghur wheat, nuts, spring onions, parsley, mint, red pepper, lemon juice, sumac or lemon zest, salt and pepper. Taste for seasoning and leave to infuse. This can be prepared in advance.

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add the cabbage leaves and blanch them for about 5 minutes until just soft. Refresh them in cold water and leave to drain well.

This dish can be served as ready-made rolls, or you can serve separately and let people wrap the lamb themselves. Place a spoonful of the lamb mixture in the middle of each leaf and wrap up. Try to get the right proportion of lamb to cabbage, so the cabbage does not overpower the meat.


Fibre rating: Medium

• Per serving: 4.7g fibre
  
• 319 kcals
  
• 15g fat
  
• 3g saturated fat
  
• 0.36g sodium

From Healthy Eating for IBS by Sophie Braimbridge and Erica Jankovich RRP $29.99, published by Kyle Cathie and available at all good bookstores.