Spiced lamb tossed through creamy yogurt pasta delivers a comforting dinner that still feels fresh
Diana Henry The Telegraph's award-winning cookery writer
Diana Henry is the Telegraph’s much-loved cookery writer. She shares recipes each week, for everything from speedy family dinners to special menus that friends will remember for months. She is also a regular broadcaster on BBC Radio 4, and her journalism and recipe books, including Simple and How to Eat a Peach, are multi-award-winning. A mother of two sons, Diana can satisfy even the fussiest of eaters.
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Published
Completely un-Italian, this was inspired by the Turkish dish manti – ravioli-like dumplings stuffed with lamb and dressed with spiced butter. It’s for those grey summer days when the weather makes you want something more substantial than pasta tossed with artichoke hearts. I adore this dish. The spicing is very important here and so is the browning of the meat – cook it for longer than you think.
Overview
Prep time
15 mins
Cook time
45 mins
Serves
4
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 3 large onions, finely sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 10g dill, roughly chopped
- 500g minced lamb
- 3 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground allspice
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 80g tinned chopped tomatoes
- ½ tbsp Turkish pepper paste
- 425g Greek yogurt
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 tsp cornflour
- 30g kefalotyri or Parmesan, grated
- 400g rigatoni
- 15g parsley, roughly chopped
Method
Step
Heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and cook 3 finely sliced onions over a medium heat, until soft and golden, about 15 minutes. Adjust the heat if the onions are getting too much colour. Season along the way.
Step
Add 4 finely chopped garlic cloves and cook for another 4 minutes or so. Stir in 10g roughly chopped dill.
Step
While you’re cooking the onions, get on with the mince. Add the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil to a frying pan and cook 500g minced lamb over a high heat – you need it to be brown, almost crispy in places.
Step
Use a wooden spoon to break the meat up. If there is a lot of fat in the pan, drain off all but 1 tbsp.
Step
Add 3 tsp ground cumin, ½ tsp ground allspice, 1 tsp ground cinnamon and some seasoning to the meat.
Step
Cook for 2 minutes more then add 80g tinned chopped tomatoes, ½ tbsp Turkish pepper paste and 75ml water. Cook over a medium-low heat for 15 minutes. The sauce should have reduced and be quite thick. Check the seasoning. Take it off the heat – you will reheat it later.
Step
Combine 425g Greek yogurt, 2 egg yolks, 2 tsp cornflour and some seasoning in a saucepan then heat for about 8 minutes – don’t let it boil, keep it over a medium heat – until it has thickened a little. Take it off the heat and stir in 30g grated kefalotyri or Parmesan.
Step
Cook 400g pasta in boiling salted water while you’re preparing the yogurt. When it’s al dente, drain it. Reheat the onions and stir them and the yogurt into the pasta. Quickly reheat the lamb.
Step
Put the pasta into a large, warm serving bowl and spoon the lamb on top. Scatter on 15g roughly chopped parsley. Stir the lamb a little so that the juices stain the pasta and yogurt and serve immediately.