Moorish skewers with grilled vegetables and hummus

At this time of year I love enjoying my barbecue and spending a pleasant time on my terrace. For me, cooking on the barbecue is a whole ritual: I light it, and while it heats up I carefully prepare the ingredients, uncork a wine and the party begins. While my guests finish the appetizer, I cook and chat with them while my Weber barbecue takes care of everything.

So I want to give you one more suggestion to get the most out of your barbecue, by preparing some authentic lamb skewers with vegetables and hummus. I have used leg of lamb, but you can also use chicken or pork.

The secret is to marinate the meat with a mixture of spices, lemon and oil. That way it becomes very tender and incredibly flavorful. The blend I propose is how I like it, but you can experiment and customize it to your taste. You’ll see I use a casserole for marinating the meat. Having a ceramic coating, it’s perfect for this task since it doesn’t absorb odors or stain, making cleaning very easy.

Weber Barbecue and round mini-casserole Le Creuset

Ingredients

For the skewers:

• 1Kg boneless leg of lamb
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 100ml extra virgin olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon sweet pimentón de la Vera
• 1 tablespoon hot pimentón de la Vera
• 1 teaspoon salt
• A few fresh cilantro leaves
• Vegetables to accompany, to taste

For the hummus:

• 400gr cooked chickpeas
• 1 garlic clove
• 3 tablespoons tahini
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Salt
• Pimentón de la Vera

Round Mini-casserole Le Creuset and Evolution round casserole Le Creuset.

Preparation

For the skewers

1. Cut the lamb into bite-sized cubes. Place them in a casserole.
2. Crush the garlic in a mortar together with the cumin and the cilantro leaves. Add the rest of the spices and the salt. Also add the oil and the lemon juice and mix well.
3. Add the marinade to the meat and mix. Cover the casserole and put it in the refrigerator until the next day.
4. Light the barbecue to heat it up while you assemble the skewers with the marinated meat and you can start cutting the vegetables. We’ll give them a quick cook so they are nicely browned outside and juicy inside.
5. Also grill the little vegetables, adding a bit of salt and oil at the end.

Dfor the hummus

1. Put all the ingredients in the bowl of the blender and blend. It will be necessary to add water to adjust the thickness.
2. Place the hummus in a mini casserole and sprinkle with pimentón de la Vera and drizzle a little olive oil on top.

KitchenAid hand blender and round mini-casserole Le Creuset.

Serve the skewers accompanied by the vegetables and the hummus. You’ll see how well they turn out!