Lamb Chops with a Puy Lentil Salad

Lamb: Trim the chops of excess fat and tie with kitchen string. Whisk the oil with the remaining ingredients and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Coat the lamb and leave for 30 minutes.

Dressing: Whisk all the ingredients together and season.

Salad: Cook the lentils in boiling salted water until tender. Drain well and tip into a bowl. Add the dressing while the lentils are still hot and gently combine. Leave to cool.
Halve the cucumber lengthways and scrape out the seeds with a teaspoon. Dice and stir into the lentils along with the remaining salad ingredients.

Lamb: Preheat a sauté pan or ridged grill. Cook the lamb until crisp and golden on the outside and just a touch pink inside. Rest loosely covered, for 5 minutes.

To serve: Put the yoghurt in a bowl and stir through the harissa. Place the lamb chops on a platter and garnish with lemon wedges. Serve with the lentil salad, crusty bread and the yoghurt. 

Pantry Notes: Puy Lentils are small slate-green lentils that have a delicate blue marbling. They are considered by many to be the best lentil because of their unique peppery flavour and the fact they hold their shape during cooking. They’re the only lentil to be identified by area of cultivation – grown in the Le Puy region of France.

Harissa [ha-ritha]: a fiery hot sauce from North Africa made from chilli, garlic, cumin, coriander and caraway.