Main Dish

Roast Rack of Lamb with Herb Crust

Ingredients:

-        2 racks of lamb, about 350 – 400 grammes and eight ribs each rack

-        2 – 3 tablespoon Dijon mustard

-        Flaky sea salt

-        Freshly ground pepper

-        2 tablespoon Olive oil

Herb Crust:

-        Handful of parsley

-        Handful of mint

-        Few sprigs of Rosemary

-        Handful of Thyme

-        4 tablespoon bread crumbs

-        Pinches of fine sea salt

Method:

1.      Preheat the oven to 200C/390F or 190C/370F for a fan forced oven. Clean the racks of lamb and pat them dry with paper towels. Season the pieces with the flaky sea salt and ground pepper. Let them stand for a while.

2.      Prepare the herb crust by chopping all the herbs finely or put them in a food processor. The quantity of the finely chopped herbs should be at least 4 tablespoons. Add 4 tablespoon of bread crumbs to the herbs and season with fine sea salt, mix them well and set aside.

3.      Heat a frying pan and add 2 tablespoon of olive oil.  When hot, put in the racks of lamb to sear both sides. About 2 minutes each side.

4.      Remove the lamb from the frying pan and leave them to cool down to touch. When ready, brush the Dijon mustard onto the meat surfaces of the racks and coat them with the herb crust. Press the crust on firmly and put the racks on a roasting tin.

5.      Put the lamb into the preheated oven and roast for 18 - 20 minutes for medium and 5 more minutes for well done. Take the lamb out from the oven when ready, transfer them to a plate and cover them loosely with a tinfoil and rest for a few minutes. Cut the racks into individual chops and serve 4 pieces each person.

Hint:

-        You can use days old bread to make bread crumbs by putting them in a food processor

-        Dijon Mustard could be replaced by English mustard.  Watch out if replacing it with whole grain mustard, though I like it better, the whole grain mustard does not hold the crust to the lamb so well as the other mustard.

-        If you sear the meat longer than 2 minutes each side, the roasting time should be reduced accordingly.