Lamb Chops with Garlic and Spinach Pilaf

This came from a recent edition of Delicious magazine and jumped out at me when I was looking through my recipe file for things to cook this week. Quite why I was so excited about it I’m not sure as the pilaf uses cumin and coriander which I’m not that keen on. Stephen likes that mix of spicing though so I continued with the recipe anyway and it turned out well. The spices weren’t that strong and actually provided a good contrast to the sweetness of the lamb chops. We were both very full afterwards too which is always a good thing.

The recipe inexplicably serves three people. We made the whole amount and Stephen has taken the leftover pilaf for lunch today.

1 whole head garlic, split into cloves
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon of coriander
1 teaspoon of cumin
Pinch of hot chilli powder
225g basmati rice, rinsed and drained (we used brown because that’s all we had…if you use brown then you’ll need to cook it longer)
450ml chicken stock
1 bay leaf
3 medium tomatoes, chopped and de-seeded (I never bother to de-seed tomatoes)
225g spinach
Handful of chopped parsley
Lamb chops

Boil the garlic cloves in water for three to four minutes, drain and rinse under cold water. Peel.

Heat oil in a large pan (we used a wok) and when hot add the spices and fry for one minute.

Add the rice, stock, garlic, tomatoes, bay and seasoning. Cover the pan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 13-15 minutes.

In a seperate pan, wilt the spinach and remove to a bowl.

When the rice is tender and has absorbed most of the liquid, stir in the spinach and parsley. Turn off the heat and cover with a damp tea-towel for 10 minutes.

Fry the seasoned chops to your liking and serve.