Slow-roasted lamb ribs with thyme honey and ouzo glaze

This is a recipe I created with my mother, Eleni and sweet hint - the thyme honey ouzo makes these ribs so moreish.

Slow-roasted lamb spare ribs with thyme honey and ouzo glaze. Credit: Alpha

• serves

  4

• prep

  50 minutes

• cook

  45 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 2kg lamb breast, French trimmed,
• 1.5 litres (6 cups) chicken stock
• 200ml white wine
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
• 3 thyme sprigs
• 1 tbsp sea salt
• 1 tsp sumac
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• lemon wedges, to serve

Thyme honey and ouzo glaze

• 200ml reserved braising liquid (from above)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp Greek thyme honey (see Note)
• 60 ml ouzo
• 30 ml sumac molasses
• zest and juice 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp thyme leaves
• 1 tsp dried Greek oregano
• sea salt and fresh black pepper, to taste

Blood orange hummus

• 400g canned or bottled organic chickpeas [save the cooking liquid]
• 75g tahini [as well as ½ tsp of oil from the top of the jar]
• 3 tbsp chickpea cooking liquid
• 1 large garlic clove, finely minced
• 50 ml lemon juice
• 50 ml blood orange juice
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp sea salt
• Extra virgin olive oil and cayenne pepper, to taste

Braising time 3 hours

Cooling time 2 hours

Instructions

Preheat oven to 120°C.

Place lamb breasts into baking dish. Cover with stock, wine, garlic, sumac, salt and pepper. Cover tightly with foil and braise for 3 hours. Set aside to cool and then refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until the fat solidifies.

Remove the excess fat, drain and reserve the braising liquid. Cut each breast into ribs, return to the pan and set aside.

To make the glaze, bring braising liquid to a simmer, remove from the heat add the remaining ingredients and pour over lamb ribs.

Increase oven to 200°C place your lamb ribs to roast, basting occasionally, until well browned and sticky. Bake for about 30-45 mins.

To make the hummus, put the chickpeas into a tea towel and rub the chickpeas together to partially release their skins. Put the chickpeas, tahini, garlic, blood orange juice, cumin and salt into a food processor and blend together. Loosen the mixture with a few tablespoons of the liquid drained from the chickpeas and blend again until smooth. Pour in juices and process until mixture is again smooth. Drizzle some olive oil over the surface and a dash of cayenne pepper.

Serve the lamb ribs with blood orange hummus and lemon wedges.

Note

• You can find Greek-style thyme honey from Greek delicatessens or Mediterranean shops, otherwise you can substitute for a regular honey if need be.

Recipe from Alpha restaurant's executive chef Peter Conistis.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.