Grass-Fed Dry-Aged Lamb Leg Steaks over Live Coals with Charmoula, Charred Aubergine & Pomegranate

The lamb leg steak — cut gigot-style, transversely across the upper leg — is one of the most underrated pieces at the butcher’s counter. Each steak is a cross-section of the leg: an oval or roughly round slice, 2.5–3cm thick, with the femur bone running through the centre and several distinct muscle groups radiating outward from it, each separated by thin seams of connective tissue. This structure is the steak’s chief advantage on the grill: the bone conducts heat inward from its exposed ends, cooking the meat close to the bone slightly faster than the outer muscles, so a single steak presents you with a range of textures and temperatures — from the deeply savoury meat pressed against the bone to the slightly firmer, more intensely charred outer edge.

What to look for: colour first. A well-dry-aged lamb leg steak should be a deep, brick red — darker than the bright cherry red of a fresh wet-packed steak, without any hint of browning or oxidation at the surface. The fat — both the thin exterior cap and the fine seams running between the muscle groups — should be firm, white to very pale cream, and slightly waxy in texture. Avoid steaks with yellow or greasy-looking fat, which can indicate older or poorly stored meat. The cut surface of the lean should be slightly tacky to the touch: that tackiness is the signature of good dry-ageing, where surface moisture has been drawn off over several days, concentrating flavour and beginning the enzymatic tenderising process.

At Thomas Joseph Butchery, our lamb leg steaks are cut from grass-fed animals and dry-aged for a minimum of seven days. Grass-feeding produces a lamb with a more complex flavour profile than grain-finished animals: a deeper, slightly more mineral savouriness in the lean, and a firmer fat that carries a faint sweetness when rendered. That character — forward, confident, unambiguous — is precisely what you want for live-fire cooking, where the bold heat of coals demands a bold raw material. A timid piece of meat becomes anonymous on the grill. Dry-aged grass-fed lamb leg steaks become something memorable.

For this recipe, plan on one steak per person. Each steak, at approximately 350g with the bone, is a generous but not excessive serving when paired with the charred aubergine, yoghurt and flatbreads below.

The charmoula serves two distinct functions here. As a marinade, the acidity of the lemon juice and red wine vinegar begins to denature the surface proteins of the lamb over the marinating period, relaxing the outermost muscle fibres and creating a slightly more porous surface that accepts smoke and char more readily on the grill. The oil carries the fat-soluble flavour compounds of the spices — cumin, coriander, paprika, ginger — into direct contact with the meat. As a finishing sauce, the same herby, spiced mixture is served raw, which preserves the volatile aromatic compounds (particularly from the parsley and coriander) that would be destroyed by heat. This double deployment — cooked into the crust, raw on top — gives the finished dish extraordinary aromatic depth at two registers simultaneously.

The whole-charred aubergine technique is worth understanding. Cooking aubergine directly on fire rather than in a pan triggers intense Maillard browning on the skin, and the steam generated inside the sealed skin effectively pressure-cooks the flesh from within. The result — completely impossible to achieve in an oven — is a flesh that is simultaneously silky-smooth and richly smoky, carrying the volatile phenolic compounds from the wood smoke directly into the pulp. This is the technique behind the great dishes of the eastern Mediterranean and North Africa: moutabal, baba ghanoush, m’tabbal. It is devastatingly simple and completely dependent on confidence — you have to let the skin go completely black, which feels wrong until you taste the result.

The combination of lamb, cumin, preserved lemon and pomegranate is not accidental. Cumin’s earthy, slightly bitter warmth complements the mineral sweetness of grass-fed lamb without competing with it. Preserved lemon cuts through the richness of the fat with a complex saltiness quite different from fresh lemon. Pomegranate adds both sweetness and a gentle tartness that refreshes the palate between bites, countering the richness of the yoghurt and charmoula. These are flavour relationships that have been refined across centuries of North African and Levantine cooking, and they work as well with British summer lamb as with any ingredient on earth.

If lamb leg steaks are unavailable, lamb shoulder steaks (cut the same way from the shoulder) are an excellent substitute: slightly more marbled, slightly more forgiving on the grill, and equally good with charmoula. Lamb chump chops also work well, though they cook slightly faster. For the charmoula, if you dislike coriander, use all flat-leaf parsley and add a small handful of fresh mint instead — the mint takes the sauce in a slightly more restrained, British direction that still pairs beautifully with the lamb. The preserved lemon in the aubergine can be replaced with a finely grated fresh lemon zest and a pinch of extra salt, though the depth and complexity will be noticeably different. In place of pomegranate seeds (which are hardest to find before autumn), try fresh redcurrants, finely sliced fresh radishes, or a handful of chopped dried cranberries soaked briefly in warm water. For the fire, soaked wood chips — olive wood, oak or cherry — added to the coals in the last 10 minutes before cooking will introduce another layer of smoke character.

The charmoula keeps refrigerated in a sealed jar for 3 days; the colour deepens but the flavour improves. The aubergine can be charred up to 4 hours ahead and held at room temperature, covered; re-season and drizzle with fresh oil just before serving. Marinated raw lamb can be held in the fridge for up to 12 hours. Cooked lamb leg steaks will keep refrigerated for 2 days and are excellent cold, sliced thin and tucked into a flatbread with yoghurt and pickled onions. The charmoula makes an excellent dressing for cold leftover lamb. Do not freeze cooked lamb steaks once grilled — the texture suffers considerably.

This recipe is deliberately designed as a complete assembly: flatbread, yoghurt, aubergine, lamb and charmoula in one. Beyond that, a simple tomato salad — good ripe beef tomatoes, sliced thick, dressed only with extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of flaked salt and torn fresh basil — is the ideal accompaniment in June when the tomatoes are at their best. A bowl of hummus alongside encourages sharing and slows things down in the best possible way. If you want to extend the spread, courgettes halved and grilled directly over the coals for 8–10 minutes, then dressed with olive oil, lemon and fresh mint, bring another layer of smokiness. Warm enough to need shade, unhurried enough to need another glass of whatever you’re drinking: that is the spirit in which this meal should be eaten.