Lamb Chops with Jewelled Moroccan Cous Cous

This dish is full of lovely, spicy Moroccan flavours and would be perfect cooked on the barbeque for a crowd or, if the weather is about 20 times cooler than it should be at this time of year, as it is here, indoors in a griddle pan (or under the grill would work well too).

As always, this recipe is very speedy to make - 20 minutes at the most for this one. I've made enough cous cous for four (we'll have the leftovers for a tasty lunch tomorrow) and you could easily double the amount if you were feeding lots of people. I had two lamb chops, Michael had three. It was plenty.

Lamb Chops with Jewelled Moroccan Cous Cous
1 tbsp olive oil
5 lamb chops
300g cous cous
150g pitted green olives
1 tbsp ras-el-hanout
1 preserved lemon
100g pomegranate seeds
1 handful fresh mint
Plain yoghurt, to serve

1. To make the cous cous, pour the cous cous into a large bowl and add 400ml boiling water. Leave to sit until all of the water has been absorbed.
2. Add the halved olives, ras-el-hanout, finely chopped lemon, pomegranate seeds and roughly chopped mint. Stir well, taste, then season with salt if required.
3. For the chops, put a griddle pan on a high heat.
4. Coat the chops in the olive oil, and a little salt and pepper, then add to the griddle pan. Cook for abot 5 minutes on each side, depending on the size of your chops, until caramelised and golden brown.
5. Serve with a drizzle of plain yoghurt on the side. Delicious!