Quite often, particularly for a holiday dinner, we go to great pains for the protein main dish. Marinades, sauces, studding with garlic or cloves, … We can spend considerable time before that meat meets the oven.
So this Easter, we did it simple. We had lovely side dishes — a Cucumber Neapolitana and Fresh Mint Chutney — for our racks of lamb. But the lamb itself was simplicity itself: salt and pepper, into the oven, rest, carve, eat. And perfect. Lamb tastes like, well, lamb, and that substantial flavor is quite capable of holding its own. Yes, we stuff a leg of lamb with cloves of garlic and adorn with herbs. For these racks, no effort at all. These excellent instructions come from Darina Allen in Grow, Cook, Nourish.
And they were truly delightful. The flavor of meat is provided to a great degree by the fat and you can see our racks of lamb were flavor laden. The one trick to superior lamb is to make sure you buy from an upscale butcher or grocery store. Good lamb is just that: good with abundant fat.
Unlike a turkey or ham, the cooking time for lamb is swift. You can be in and out of the kitchen in minutes.
I’ll be posting the accompanying dishes, the Cucumber Neapolitana and the Fresh Mint Chutney, over the rest of this week.
Roasted Racks of Spring Lamb
Yield: serves 4 to 6
Ingredients:
- 2 prepared racks of spring lamb [6 cutlets each]
- Salt and pepper
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 425°F.
Sprinkle the racks of lamb with salt and pepper. Place them in a roasting pan, fat-side upward, and roast for 25 to 30 minutes, depending on the age of lamb and degree of doneness required. When cooked, transfer the lamb to a warm serving dish. Turn off the oven and let the lamb rest for 5 to 10 minutes before carving to allow the juices to redistribute evenly through the meat.
Source: Grow Cook Nourish by Darina Allen [Kyle Books, 2017]
Photo Information: Canon T2i, EFS 60mm Macro Lens, F/4 for 1/30th second at ISO‑1600