I love merguez but the ones that I get here in the US never taste as good as those that I ate when I lived in France.
I did a fair bit of research and Yotam Ottolenghi's attached recipe sounded excellent. For once, I planned to follow a recipe exactly, though I wanted patties rather than kebab shapes. I ended up having to make a slight substitution as I thought I had harissa and didn't and then went all out in simplifying my life by using ground spices. Also, I have cut the amount of salt in half in my version. L. highly approved but I felt that the original was too salty by far. Otherwise a huge success and the flavor and juiciness that I was looking for.
1 lb ground lamb 1 garlic clove, peeled and grated 2 Tbsps chili oil or 1 tsp chili flakes and 2 Tbsps olive oil 1 tsp ground cumin 2 tsps ground coriander 2 tsps fennel seed 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp salt
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.
Ottolenghi shapes the meat into kebab shapes. Next time I will shape mine manually into patties but this time I was lazy and rolled the meat into one large log. Once sliced this produced the slightly odd ovoid patties above.
Refrigerate, wrapped in plastic wrap, for 30 minutes to an hour for the flavors to marry.
Place an oven going skillet over medium heat and add a slick of olive oil. just enough so the patties won't catch. As soon as the oil is hot, add the patties and cook 2 minutes on each side. You want a caramelized exterior.
Place in a preheated 350 oven and cook for an additional 10 minutes. I served this with braised chickpeas with kale and plan on serving it as a side at brunch in a few weeks where a green shakshuka will be the main attraction. I might even make a proper couscous this winter and then, of course, will shape them as kebabs. They would also make delicious sandwiches with pickled red onion and chopped coriander mayo. Whatever you do with them, these were worth making.
Inspiration recipe, here.