Moroccan Lamb Lettuce Wraps with Ras El Hanout and Lemon-Mint Aioli

These healthy lettuce wraps are brought to you by my friends at Superior Farms. Thank you as always for supporting the companies that make this site (and my lamb cravings) possible.

My first trip to Morocco was both a transformative and traumatic experience.

If you’ve read The Wellness Project book and made it to the Eater’s Digest chapter you’ll know about the bad part. But today let’s focus on the transformative.

The trip was my college graduation gift from my mother, who had spent a good chunk of her twenties living in Morocco.

It had been over a decade since she’d been back to visit friends, and as my generous reward for making it through four years of poli-sci essays and beer pong, she took me along for two weeks of gorging on cumin-scented lamb, hiking through the Atlas Mountains, and haggling for ethnic furnishings for my first New York City apartment.

While the embroidered floor pillows have stuck with me through three moves, and the photo of me riding a donkey down a particularly harrowing stretch of mountain remains one of my favorites, there’s probably no memory that’s stuck with me more than the food.

Though I’d eaten lamb before, it was the first time I had really experienced its depth of flavor. The meat was tender, and often-times pleasantly gamey from having grazed in nearby pastures. When I got home, I started seeking it out more often at the market. And since I was operating on a first-year-in-the-real-world salary, in order to experiment with it on a budget, I usually came home with a package of ground meat instead of the pricier racks.

Lamb burgers have always been a regular on my rotation, especially when trying to elevate a basic meaty comfort food. So when I started thinking about ways to get more creative with ground lamb, I thought a Moroccan-style lettuce wrap would be the perfect marriage in healthy hedonist heaven.

This healthy lettuce wrap recipe is a similar concept to a Thai larb, but using the Moroccan spice blend Ras El Hanout. If you don’t want to add another jar to your rack (trust me, I get it), you can make something similar yourself by combining turmeric, cumin and cinnamon. The browned meat gets jazzed up further with onion, garlic, harissa (a Moroccan red pepper paste) and some lemon juice.

The lamb itself was sourced by my friends at Superior Farms, who work with family farmers across the country. What I love about the company is that they prioritize sustainable practices; their flocks are set to pasture on grasslands and treated humanely. Some graze on vineyards to reduce heavy equipment while replenishing nutrients and microbes in the soil. Others work on regenerative grazing on public lands to prevent fires and support native plant growth. And their California facility even uses wind and solar power to make up for more than 90% of their energy use.

The recipe itself is gluten-free (like most Moroccan food), Whole30-friendly, Paleo, and most important for summer: fast AF. You can serve it as an appetizer or as a light main course, which is the way Charlie and I inhaled it the other day, drizzled with a generous amount of lemon-mint aioli.

From one healthy hedonist, to another,

Xoxo
Phoebe

Moroccan Lamb Lettuce Wraps with Ras El Hanout and Lemon-Mint Aioli

5 from 1 vote

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This healthy lettuce wrap recipe is gluten-free (like most Moroccan food), Whole30 friendly, Paleo, and FAST. If you don't have ras el hanout or harissa, see recipe notes for substitutions. If you want to bulk up the meal further, add some couscous or millet for a gluten-free option. 

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 2 -4 people

Author Phoebe Lapine

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound ground lamb
• 1 small red onion thinly sliced
• 2 large garlic cloves minced
• 1 teaspoon ras el hanout see note
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon harissa see note
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 bunch radishes thinly sliced
• 1 head Boston or Bibb lettuce leaves separated

For the sauce:

• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 small garlic clove minced
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh mint leaves plus more for garnish

Instructions

• In a large heavy skillet, heat the oil over high flame. Brown the lamb, breaking it apart with your spatula into small pieces, until the fat is rendered and the meat has begun to develop a crust, 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Push the lamb to the sides of the pan and add half of the onion, garlic and ras el hanout to the center. Cook, eventually stirring the lamb and veggies together, until the onion is soft, another 3 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the salt, harissa and lemon juice. Taste for seasoning and add more salt, acid or heat as necessary.
• Make the aioli: In a small mixing bowl or food processor whisk or pulse the egg yolk, lemon juice, and garlic until smooth. Working slowly, add 1 teaspoon of the olive oil and whisk or pulse until incorporated. Repeat with 3 additional teaspoons. Once the oil is taking, slowly drizzle in the remaining olive oil. Once the mixture is thick, add the mint leaves and season with the salt.
• To serve, arrange the lettuce cups on a platter and divide the lamb mixture between them. Garnish with the radishes, remaining red onion, and mint leaves, and serve alongside the lemon-mint aioli.

Notes

There are plenty of modifications for this recipe if you don’t own one of the specialty ingredients. For the harissa, substitute 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, and add it to the pan with the ras el hanout. If you don’t have ras el hanout, you can create a similar spice blend by combining 1/4 teaspoon each of ground cumin, turmeric, coriander and cinnamon. You can also make the aioli with store bought mayonnaise if you don’t want to bother with the from-scratch version. Simply combine 1/4 cup mayonnaise with 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh mint, and season to taste with salt.

If you make this, tag @phoebelapine and #feedmephoebe - I'd love to see it!

These healthy lettuce wraps are brought to you by my friends at Superior Farms. Thank you as always for supporting the companies that make this site (and my lamb cravings) possible.