Lamb and Fig Skewers With Honey and Rosemary
Updated July 8, 2020

- Total Time
- 20 minutes, plus marinating time
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 4garlic cloves, minced
- 2large sprigs rosemary, leaves minced
- 2tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1tablespoon honey
- 1and ¼ teaspoons coarse kosher salt, more to taste
- 1teaspoon black pepper
- 1teaspoon Asian fish sauce or soy sauce
- 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 12large ripe figs
- 1and ½ pounds boneless leg of lamb, cut into 1-inch chunks
- Chopped fresh mint leaves, for serving
- Lemon wedges, for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
If you are using wooden skewers, soak them in water for at least 30 minutes. (You don’t need to soak metal skewers. If you are broiling the kebabs instead of grilling, skewers are optional.)
- Step 2
In a large bowl, toss together garlic, rosemary, lemon juice, honey, salt, pepper and fish sauce, and stir well to dissolve the salt. Stir in oil.
- Step 3
Thread the figs on skewers; if you are not using skewers, spread the figs on a baking sheet. Make sure the figs don’t touch one another. Brush with some of the rosemary marinade and set the figs aside.
- Step 4
Add lamb to the bowl with remaining marinade and toss well. If you have time, let lamb marinate in the fridge for several hours, or at least 30 minutes at room temperature.
- Step 5
Light the grill or heat the broiler. Thread the lamb on skewers or spread on a baking sheet, leaving room between the pieces to get more of a char. Grill or broil kebabs for 3 to 5 minutes, turning them once. (If broiling, cook as close to the heating element as possible. You don’t need to turn them.)
- Step 6
Sprinkle lamb with fresh mint, then serve lamb and figs with lemon wedges.
Private Notes
Comments
Skewers are a pain! To grill this or other kebab recipe, just spread the components on a perforated grill topper and cook over charcoal (or gas, if necessary), turning pieces as needed. Better char, way fewer toasted fingers. Great for bacon-wrapped chicken livers or prosciutto-wrapped figs as well...
So good! I thought there would be leftovers. I was wrong. We could not stop eating this dish! (Served it with the tomato and watermelon salad with feta -- a great pairing!)
I made this twice and found that black mission figs from California worked better than brown figs from Turkey. It was very good both times (I cooked it in the oven), but with black figs, the dish was amazing. I served it with polenta and a green salad on the side.
The marinade is excellent! As others have said, I just used a grill-top cooking pan which was much easier than skewers. Also, I couldn't find fresh figs, so I substituted dried dates and they were so yummy with the lamb. I marinated the lamb all day, and then about 30 minutes before cooking, mixed in the dates with the lamb/marinade. Grilled all of these together.
Tried with pork kabob meat from the farmer because I didn’t have lamb.
Made this for pops and he couldn’t stop sneaking more bites. Really delicious marinade. Also makes even sad looking figs taste better than they should. Served with lemony pearl couscous and the Bloody Mary salad nyt has. It’s going to be a lifelong keeper.
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