Something of a classic, this work just as well for a quick Sunday lunch as it does for a supper party. A rack of lamb looks its best when it’s been French-trimmed, ie the ends of the bones are cleaned. Your butcher will do this for you if you ask nicely.
It makes a lovely summery meal, best served with seasonal vegetables and some new potatoes. Try it with good old British mint sauce or, if you’re feeling continental, salsa verde. Please note I am carefully avoiding any Brexit jokes here but blimey, what a shambles. (Puns on the origin of the word shambles are graciously permitted in the comments section.)
Herb-crusted Rack of Lamb
Ingredients:
1 rack of lamb, French trimmed (mine weighed 580g and consisted of 8 chops)
25g fresh white breadcrumbs
1 tbs finely chopped fresh rosemary needles
1 tbs chopped fresh marjoram or oregano leaves
1 tspn dried thyme or 2 tspn fresh
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed with 1 tspn salt
A good grind of black pepper
2 tbsp extra-virgin rapeseed oil plus more for frying
1 tbs Dijon mustard
Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas Mark 7.
In a bowl, mix together the breadcrumbs, herbs, garlic, salt and pepper and moisten with 2 tbs oil. Cover and set aside.
Score the fat on the top of the lamb rack in a diamond pattern, without cutting through to the meat. Season all over with salt and pepper. Put a pan on a high heat, add another drizzle of oil and put the meat in fat side down. Cook until golden and the fat has rendered a little, then turn and quickly sear the other sides.
Remove from the pan, smear the meat with Dijon mustard and roll in the herby breadcrumb mix. Place in a roasting tin, bone side down, and wrap the bones in tin foil if you’d like to keep them white.
Cook for 15-20 minutes (depending on how well cooked you like your lamb and the size of the chops) then rest for 10 minutes, loosely covered. Carve down between the bones into individual chops and serve.
I can’t manage puns any more. It’s got beyond dreadful. So I think we’ll have to go with the salsa verde option. It seems to be the only form of protest we have left.
I suppose we could beat our politicians about the neck and shoulders with a leg of lamb. Preferably frozen. It would at least make for interesting headlines.
Waste of decent meat.
What a fantastic-looking rack of lamb! Sorry for your political situation. It seems like the whole world is a shambles.