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Lamb and pistachio patties with sumac yoghurt sauce

Easy Main
Makes about 20 patties, to serve four as a main or six as a snack
Featured in
Simple cookbook

These patties are lovely as a snack or as part of a feast at a barbecue. If you want to make them into a more substantial meal, however, just serve them with some rocket leaves tossed with olive oil, lemon juice and shaved Parmesan. The yoghurt sauce can be made the day before. The patties will keep in the fridge for 1 day uncooked, or they can be cooked up to 6 hours in advance, ready to be warmed through for 5 minutes before serving. Leftovers are also good the next day, at room temperature or warmed through.

Ingredients

60g pistachio kernels
25g rocket leaves
1 onion, quartered (150g)
1 large garlic clove, peeled
500g lamb mince
about 3 tbsp olive oil
salt and black pepper
SUMAC YOGHURT SAUCE
250g greek-style yoghurt
1 tbsp sumac
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice

Method

  1. Mix together all the ingredients for the sumac yoghurt sauce and keep in the fridge until needed.
  2. To make the patties, put the pistachios into the small bowl of a food processor. Blitz for a few seconds, to roughly chop, then put into a medium bowl. Add the rocket to the processor, blitz for a few seconds to roughly chop, then add to the bowl of pistachios. Continue with the onion and garlic, to form a smooth paste, and add to the bowl. Add the lamb, 1 tablespoon of oil, ¾ teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper. Mix well to combine, then, with wet hands, shape the mix into about 20 patties. They should each be about 5cm wide, 2cm thick and weigh about 40g.
  3. Put 1 tablespoon of oil into a large non-stick frying pan and place on a medium heat. Once hot, add the patties – as many as you can fit without overcrowding the pan – and cook for 7 minutes, turning once halfway, until golden-brown and just cooked through. Keep warm while you repeat with the remaining patties. If you need to, add another tablespoon of oil to the pan during the process. When they are all cooked, pile all the patties on to a large platter and serve, with the sumac yoghurt alongside.