| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 2 hr |
| Prep: | 25 min |
| Inactive: | 55 min |
| Cook: | 40 min |
| Yield: | 4 to 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 1/2 tablespoon capers
- 1 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 cups plain unsweetened yogurt
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for grilling
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- One 3 to 4-pound leg of lamb, butterflied
- 1 sourdough baguette (use 2 if serving 8)
- Harissa Mayo, for serving, recipe follows
- Quick Pickled Sweet Cucumbers, for serving, recipe follows
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons store-bought harissa paste
- 1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 hothouse cucumber, finely sliced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 Fresno chile, halved lengthwise, seeded if desired and finely sliced
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup white vinegar
Instructions
- Make the marinade by finely mincing the capers, oregano and garlic together. Add to a small bowl along with the yogurt, olive oil, lemon zest and some salt and pepper, stirring until well combined. Place the lamb in a large resealable bag and pour in the yogurt marinade. Mix it around so the lamb is completely coated all over. Squeeze out any air, reseal the bag and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, or up to overnight.
- Preheat the grill to medium-high heat.
- When the lamb is marinated, remove it from the bag and wipe off any excess with paper towels. Unfold the lamb, drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle well with salt and pepper on both sides; this will help form a nice crust. Grill for about 15 minutes, then flip once and cook for another 12 minutes on the second side until cooked through and you have some color on the lamb. When done, remove from the grill, tent with foil and let rest for 10 to 12 minutes before carving across the grain into thin slices.
- Take the baguette and split horizontally lengthwise so you have long halves. Place on the grill to warm the bread through and get slightly crisp, about 2 minutes per side.
- To assemble the sandwiches, smear the bread with Harissa Mayo, stack with slices of lamb and Quick Pickled Sweet Cucumbers. Place the top of the baguette on and slice the sandwich into quarters.
- Mix the mayonnaise, sour cream, harissa, vinegar and cumin together in a large bowl and stir with a whisk to combine. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as desired. Refrigerate and serve smeared on lamb sandwiches.
- Add the cucumber slices and chile slices to a medium bowl and toss to combine.
- In a medium saucepan, add the vinegar, sugar, 1/2 water and salt. Heat gently, stirring, just until the sugar and salt dissolve. Pour over the cucumbers and chiles in the bowl. Set aside to marinate at least 15 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 935 |
| Total Fat | 55 g |
| Saturated Fat | 19 g |
| Carbohydrates | 60 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 33 g |
| Protein | 47 g |
| Cholesterol | 163 mg |
| Sodium | 1302 mg |
Reviews
I’ve made this recipe several times. Everyone loves it.
Great food to grill by the pool. Feeds plenty of people. Have served to multiple friends, and not one has hesitated to tell me how delicious it was. Pickles and lamb even better the next day. Plan on making this again soon.
I already had a recipe I use for the leg of lamb (simple garlic lemon rosemary oil marinade, boneless on the rotisserie over charcoal).
BUT the sauce and pickles are bomb. I made this for my sons first b-day party and everyone loved it. Many requests for the sauce recipe.
I can make them 1 day.
This lamb sandwich is awesome! I wasn’t able to find store bought harissa so made my own. It’s not that difficult and so well worth it. The pickles on this sandwich are so necessary! I had never thought of a lamb sandwich with pickles before, but this all goes together so well it’s nothing short of divine. Love this recipe.
I signed up just so I could review this recipe. This was awesome. Made it for a family BBQ, and everybody raved. The combination of the lamb, the mayo and the pickles was spot on, and I don’t even like pickles. These pickles were fresh, crunchy, and they complemented the lamb perfectly. They remind me of the pickled vegetables In a banh mi sandwich. Can’t wait to make this again.
Awesome
DE-LISH! I made the special run to whole foods to find the Harissa, made the paste and then the mayo. Completely worth it. Only tweaks were that I didnt have any fresh oregano on hand so I used fresh rosemary and thyme because thats what was hanging out in my garden. I let the lamb marinate all day. I was a little skeptical about the quick pickled cucumber but they were great and really rounded out the sandwich! I didnt have fresno chillies to throw in so I just used a little hot red pepper and I also threw in some carrot slices for good measure. Big flavor all around.
This recipe was, to borrow a phrase from some one we all know, absolutely awesome. The Harissa sauce is incredible. We’ve made these sandwiches three time since we watched the show on Sunday. Once with lamb as per the recipe, once with center cut pork loin, and tonight with thin sliced flank steak. All awesome. i think you could make a cardboard sandwich using the Harissa sauce and it would be “awesome”. Anyway, we liked it a lot, and it is adaptable for use with a variety of different cuts of meat. Fabulous!