Moroccan Spiced Lamb Patties

These are loosely based on a recipe from Epicurious. They were fine cooked in a skillet, but I imagine they would be even better cooked on a grill. Using garlic scapes for the garlic was a nice touch, but if they aren't in season, substitute for them with a few cloves of garlic.

4 patties
20 minutes



Spice Mixture:
1 dried red chile pepper
1 teaspoon fennel seed
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1 teaspoon coriander seed
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons paprika

Grind the chile, fennel seed, cumin seed and coriander seed together, with the sea salt if it is coarse. Mix in the remaining spices.

Lamb Patties:
4 or 5 fresh garlic scapes
1 tablespoon minced fresh mint leaves
450 grams (1 pound) lean ground lamb
1 large egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs or cracker crumbs

Chop the garlic scapes finely, and mince the mint. Mix it with the lamb, the egg, the crumbs and the spice mixture. It is by far the easiest to do this by hand.

Divide the mixture into 4 equal parts, and form into patties. Fry or grill until browned on both sides and cooked through, about 5 minutes per side, but perhaps a little longer.