Cumin lamb and zucchini foldovers

Crisp shortcrust pastry triangles filled with spiced lamb and served with a minted-pea sauce.

Credit: Danielle Abou Karam

• makes

  16

• prep

  1 hour

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp whole Sichuan peppercorns
• 4 green zucchini, about 600 g
• 225 g can peeled water chestnuts, drained
• 1 kg lamb mince
• 17 g salt
• 55 g (¼ cup) sugar
• 5 g ground cumin
• 10 g chicken bouillon powder
• 125 ml (½ cup) oyster sauce
• 35 g potato starch
• 10 g sesame oil, to taste
• 445 g good-quality ready rolled shortcrust pastry (see Note)
• 1 egg, lightly beaten with a dash of milk
• sea salt flakes, for sprinkling

Minted pea sauce

• 60 g butter
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 500 g frozen baby peas
• 1 bunch round mint, leaves picked and roughly chopped
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1-2 tbsp sour cream, to taste

 

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 210°C.
2. Place the Sichuan peppercorns in a small saucepan with 100 ml water. Bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat, cover and leave to infuse for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, coarsely grate the zucchini until you have about 500 g. Place in a colander over a bowl, sprinkle with a little salt and toss to combine, then set aside.
4. Coarsely chop the water chestnuts, then pat dry. Place zucchini into a clean kitchen towel and wring out some of the moisture. Strain the Sichuan peppercorns through a sieve over a bowl. Discard the peppercorns and if the steeping water is still warm, add an ice cube to rapidly cool it down.
5. Place the mince in a large bowl. Add the salt, sugar, cumin, chicken bouillon powder and oyster sauce and use your hands to combine well. Add the Sichuan water, a little at a time until incorporated, then mix in the potato starch, followed by the sesame oil. Add the grated zucchini and water chestnuts and mix (ideally in the same direction to encourage emulsification) one final time.
6. Cut 13-cm squares from the pastry sheet. Place 70 g filling on one side of each pastry square, flattening to make a triangle and leaving 1-cm border. Brush the edges with egg, then fold over to make a triangle and press the edges to seal well. Place on a baking paper  ined tray and brush all over with egg. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden.
7. Meanwhile, for the minted pea sauce, melt the butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir until lightly coloured. Add the peas and stir until warmed through. Stir in the mint. Transfer to a blender and process until roughly blended. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the sour cream. Process again until well combined, then set aside and keep warm.
8. Serve the hot foldovers with the warm pea sauce on the side.

Note

• I like the Careme brand of ready-rolled pastry, but any other good-quality pastry will be fine.

Photography by Danielle Abou Karam.

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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.