{Lamb Rice Pilaf With Dill Yoghurt}

This recipe is adapted from one I tore out of the Epicure, a weekly food section that comes with The Age paper here in Melbourne every Tuesday, it has some really good recipes and this is definitely one of them, its the second time I've cooked it in as many weeks and its a really beautiful dish, according to the author its a little bit Moroccan, a bit Turkish with a dash of Lebanese, anyway its a lot delicious and the kind of recipe you want to make again almost straight away.

...the pilaf

1 onion halved and sliced

2 tbsp olive oil

300g lamb mince

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp allspice

pinch of dried chilli flakes

s+p

200g basmati rice

100g sultanas (or currants)

2 tbsp tomato paste

450ml chicken stock

40g pinenuts

2 tbsp dill

150g natural yoghurt

Preheat oven to 180. Heat the oil in an oven proof dish that has a lid, a Le Crueset is perfect for this, cook the onion on a moderate heat till golden then add the lamb, cinnamon, ginger, allspice and chilli, stir occasionally till the lamb is cooked and lightly browned, if there is a lot of oil at this point drain off the excess and season well with s+p.

Add in the washed rice, sultanas, tomato paste and stock and bring to the boil stirring. Cover and pop into the oven for 20 minutes, test rice at this point it should be done, remove from the oven and let it rest for 5 minutes.

Toast the pinenuts in a dry pan till lightly golden, and in a little bowl combine the yoghurt and chopped dill. To serve add the pinenuts to your pilaf and fluff it up with a fork, serve with a dollop of the yoghurt.