Lamb Egg Rolls with Sweet Dipping Sauce

I've made chicken eggrolls and spicy turkey eggrolls so lamb eggrolls were the natural next step.  The unmistakeable flavor of lamb is complemented by tart lemon, sweet golden raisins and fresh mint.  I also found a use for the bottle of Za'atar seasoning I bought at the farmers market.  These eggrolls are easy to assemble and serve as a hearty appetizer, a light dinner or the perfect tailgating snack to eat with a cold beverage in hand!  

Ingredients:

1 pound ground lamb

4-5 cloves garlic, chopped

1 small onion, diced

4-5 scallions chopped

small handful flat leaf parsley, chopped

small handful fresh mind, chopped

1 lemon, I use both the zest and juice

1 cup shelled pistachios, roughly chopped

1 cup golden raisons, roughly chopped  

1 teaspoon herbs de Provence

½ teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon Za'atar  (mix of dried thyme, oregano, marjoram, sumac, sesame seeds and salt)

½ teaspoon salt

5-7 cracks fresh black pepper

Canola oil for pan frying

1 package wonton wrappers

Equal parts duck sauce and apricot jam mixed for dipping with about 6 leaves of chopped mint 

Mixture:

Sauté 1-2 T canola oil, with garlic and onion and a few cracks of black pepper. 

After 5 minutes, add lamb and cook thoroughly until it is no longer pink.
Drain lamb mixture into another bowl and add spices, lemon zest, juice, raisons, pistachios, mint and parsley.
Allow mixture to cool (you can do this the day before as well) 

EggRolls:

Gather a small bowl of water for dipping your finger in to seal your eggrolls. 

Line up 4-6 wrappers at a time and place a small spoon of mixture towards one corner of the wrapper, do this on a diagonal.

Fold corner over mixture, fold sides in and roll eggroll sealing in the mixture almost completely.

Dip your finger in water and lightly wet last corner of wrapper.  This will seal your eggroll up so you can cook it.

Heat about ½ inch oil in a huge sauté pan until hot

Add eggrolls to oil and begin to cook (my eggrolls are not submerged in oil)

Cook on each of the four sides of eggroll until wonton wrapper is crispy.

Drain on paper towels and serve hot, warm or room temperature with a mix of duck sauce and apricot preserves along with a bit of added chopped mint.