Yogurt makes this pasta creamy and comforting without feeling too rich. It is inspired by the Middle Eastern dish shish barak, tiny dumplings filled with lamb and pine nuts in a tangy yogurt sauce. You’ll find all those flavors here but made simpler and brighter with help from dried pasta and plenty of fresh dill.
Recipe information
Yield
4-6 servings
Ingredients
3
2
3
3
3
½
½
1
1
1½
1
1
½
Preparation
Step 1
Combine egg yolks, yogurt, and 1½ cups dill in a blender; finely grate in 1 garlic clove and blend until smooth. Set purée aside. Finely chop remaining dill; set aside.
Step 2
Melt butter over medium heat in a large skillet. Add pine nuts and cook, stirring often, until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Add dried currants and cook, stirring often, until plump, about 1 minute. Scrape nut mixture into a small bowl; season with salt.
Step 3
Wipe out skillet and heat over medium-high. Stir together cumin, pepper, and 1 tsp. salt in a small bowl. Place lamb in pan and use a sturdy spatula to aggressively flatten (like you’re making smash burgers); sprinkle spice mixture over. Cook, undisturbed, until lamb is well browned and crisp underneath, about 4 minutes. Hold back meat and drain off all of the fat. Break up meat into small pieces and mix in reserved nut mixture. Finely grate in remaining 2 garlic cloves and add reserved chopped dill. Cook, stirring, until herbs are wilted, about 1 minute. Set aside until pasta is ready.
Step 4
Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until 1 minute shy of al dente (pasta will finish cooking in the sauce). Drain pasta and return to pot.
Step 5
Pour reserved purée over pasta and set over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens enough to cling to pasta and just comes to a simmer, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat; finely grate zest from lemon half over pasta, then squeeze in juice. Season with salt.
Step 6
Divide pasta among bowls and top with lamb mixture.
How would you rate Spiced Lamb and Dill Yogurt Pasta?
Leave a Review
Reviews (70)
Back to TopIncredibly delicious exactly as in the recipe. Highly recommend. I'm not usually a raisin person but they are amazing here.
Anonymous
Barcelona, Spain
12/28/2023
MY. FAVORITE. DISH. EVER. I look forward to making this all the time, but to keep it special I save it for ~3 times a year, and holy heck it never disappoints. I can almost make it from memory now! My boyfriend and I have started saying ... "hey, I was thinking about making Orecchiettini Verdini this week... GET READY!!!!!!" the anticipation, man! MAKE THIS! I don't change anything about the recipe, it's perfect.
Izzy
Boston, MA
12/17/2021
made without the lamb (served with some chicken I had on hand instead), and it was really good!
omar k.
Laurel, MD
6/9/2021
dill-icious! a great complete meal with great flavors. I should use buttery raisins paired with lamb more often! I threw a bunch of kale (chopped) into the pasta water with a few minutes left to add more veg to the dish. Thanks Sohla!
Kristen
Denver, CO
4/20/2021
A week after making this, I am still thinking about it. Just absolutely delicious. The freshness of the yogurt and dill really plays well with the lamb. I splurged for pine nuts and I'm glad I did, but I think Sohla's recommendation of almonds as an alternative would work well too (pine nuts are $$!) Had leftovers and was absolutely thrilled to eat them the next day. Will add to our regular rotation.
sarah
Washington, DC
3/24/2021
I've cooked a lot of BA recipes and this is my favorite by far! Such a unique, fresh, and flavorful dish that leaves you craving more. Leftovers are good reheated, too! THANK YOU for my new fav recipe, Sohla!
Jgrub
Los Angeles
1/6/2021
I was really excited about trying this dish, my impression from the recipe photo got me all excited. I followed all the ingredients, but am really not sure where it went wrong.... The keyfir made the dill sauce extremely watery, after blending it, it didn't make it smooth at all. I repeated the recipe a week later with yogurt instead of keyfir and the same thing happened? The lamb was amazing, but I really need to firgure out how to get a creamy, green sauce....
Anonymous
Istanbul
10/18/2020