This dish borrows the flavors of shish barak—lamb and pine nut dumplings from the Levant—and spins them in a pasta direction. No dill? Chives and parsley would be great. No lamb? Use another ground meat (or lima beans!). No currants? Any dried fruit works.
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Recipe information
Yield
4-6 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Combine egg yolks, kefir, and 1½ cups dill in a blender; finely grate in 1 garlic clove and blend until smooth. Set purée aside. Finely chop remaining 1½ cups dill and set aside separately.
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 (20)
Back to TopI gave a 5 star, but it changed it to 1 star. weird. and I don't see the post I just wrote a few minutes ago. Anyways, it deserves a 5 star. Very unique and delicious recipe. It was time consuming and many steps with many ingredients, but was worth it at the end. Only complaint is it could use more sauce. I would use 1/2 less pasta next time, or double the dill sauce. The lamb was A-mazing flavor with the spices and currant and sliced almonds. The dill yogurt flavor was a nice flavor for the pasta, but again could use more sauce. I like that it tastes creamy but healthier than alfredo sauce.
Chef Anne
Philadelphia, PA
10/8/2021
This dish was very good. Was a bit time consuming to make with so many ingredients and steps but was very flavorful and unique of a dish. I loved the flavor of the ground lamb and the seasoning on it. No gamey taste at all. I liked the flavor of the dill pasta and although not dry, it could use more sauce. I would use 1/2 the portion of pasta next time, or double the amount of dill sauce. The dill and egg flavor was a tasty and unique flavor, and healthier than alfredo cream sauce. I would definitely make it again with the above modifications
Chef Anne
Philadelphia, PA
10/8/2021
Fabulous! I halved the sauce (made with Greek yogurt vs. Kefir) and the pasta, making for a meatier dish. As suggested, I also added pasta water to thin the sauce. The combination of flavors was delicious. Nor at all as complicated or costly as another commented, as I always have Pine nuts and currents on hand. Yes, the ground lamp was expensive, but worth it.
oldmayor
Portland, ME
5/30/2021
Really yummy, I don't eat meat and subbed the lamb with some fake meat, added a little more chilli pepper along with the cumin and pepper, and used parsley since the store was out of dill. It was so good! Definitely using this as a base to riff off of again!
Anonymous
Mississauga, ON
2/4/2021
Made this today and it was super tasty, like having a gyro on pasta instead of bread. Looking at the reviews, I cut down on the amount of pasta so the sauce would stay more liquid-y (and I don't mind the more meat to carb balance that occurred). One absolute cheat if you're tired and have this available, I used pre-mixed kofta kebab meat (beef, lamb, spices) in place of the lamb and spice mix. Trader Joes was out of ground lamb, so I had to improvise. Very tasty and hope it makes good leftovers.
ebostwi
Dallas, TX
2/1/2021
I love this! was kinda complicated, but I had nothing better to do... I fully cooked the pasta before adding the sauce. It still got kinda dry, so next time I will save some pasta water to add if needed. Really delicious!
jansan1
Orange County, CA.
10/10/2020
This was awesome! I used greek yogurt and raisins as substitutes. It was a great mix of sweet, salty, and tangy. It would be a good recipe to try a pasta substitute.
annietf
Richmond, VA
10/9/2020
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