Rack of Lamb

(All Recipes have Gluten-Free Options)

Peppered Rack of Lamb & Creamed Flageolet Beans (Serves 4)

This is a recipe which I found in an old cookbook, ‘5th Floor Harvey Nichols’ by Henry Harris. The original recipe was made with a rump of lamb but I prefer a rack, however feel free to use the cut you like, just adjust the cooking times. The creamed flageolet beans should be noted as a ‘stand-alone-recipe’; they make a great side for lots of other dishes and are super easy to make!

2 x 400g cans flageolet beans, drained and rinsed

250ml whipping cream

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 sprig of rosemary, finely chopped

2 racks of lamb (six cutlets each)

1 tablespoon peppercorns, lightly crushed

2 tablespoons olive oil

60g butter

4 tablespoons cognac

250ml strong lamb stock

  1. Combine the beans, cream, garlic and rosemary in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the cream thickens, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Keep warm until ready to serve.
  2. Sprinkle the lamb racks with the crushed peppercorns and press in with the palm of your hand, then season lightly with salt (it’s important to do it this way as if you salt first and then pepper afterwards, the pepper is likely to fall off).
  3. Add the olive oil to a frying pan. When it is hot add the racks and fry briskly until they have a golden crust.
  4. Place the racks on a baking tray and roast in a preheated oven (200’c fan) for about 25-30 minutes (if you have a meat thermometer it should register 65-70’c). Rest for 5-10 minutes then slice into cutlets.
  5. Meanwhile, pour off the olive oil from the frying pan. Add the butter, cook for a few minutes until it goes a gentle nut brown. Add the cognac and cook for a further minute or so to drive off the alcohol. Add the stock and bring to the boil and reduce, whisking regularly, until a good syrupy sauce is achieved.
  6. Finally, spoon the beans on to warm plates, arrange the cutlets on top and serve with a little of the sauce.

Sumac and Chilli Spiced Rack of Lamb with Sweet Pomegranate Sauce (Serves 4)

I first tasted this lamb at a friend’s house and I asked for the recipe straight away! It’s one of those recipes which has changed hands multiple times, so unfortunately I have failed to trace the cookbook it first appeared in, which is a shame as the author really does deserve a round of applause as it’s a fantastically simple recipe! All it needs is a good green salad on the side, but if you have the time and inclination it’s particularly delicious with ‘Roasted Squash, Crispy Lentils, Pomegranate & Dukkah’ (recipe here).

For the Lamb:

3 tablespoons crushed or ground sumac

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon mild chilli flakes or powder

2 lamb racks (6 cutlets each), French trimmed

4 tablespoons olive oil

For the Sauce:

150ml pomegranate molasses

50ml grenadine

50ml water

  1. About an hour before cooking combine the sumac, cumin and chilli in a bowl and season. Arrange the lamb racks on a roasting tray and rub all over with the sumac mix. Drizzle with a little olive oil and allow to rest for an hour (or more) in the fridge
  2. Roast the racks for 25-30 minutes in a preheated oven, 200’c fan, (if you have a meat thermometer it should register 65-70’c). Allow to rest for 5 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, make the sauce. Put all the ingredients in a small saucepan, bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 10-12 minutes, until you have a syrupy consistency and have reduced the liquid by half.
  4. To serve, slice into cutlets and drizzle with the pomegranate sauce.

Roast Rack of Lamb, Fresh Apple & Mint Chutney and Minty Herb New Potatoes (Serves 4-6)

A simple but very tasty recipe from Rachel Allen’s cookbook ‘Coast’. With its fresh flavours, the apple & mint chutney is particularly good with the sweetness of spring lamb. Simply serve with ‘New Potatoes & Minty Herb Butter’ (recipe below) and green beans.

2 racks of lamb (6 cutlets each)

1 large cooking apple, peeled, cored and quartered

A large handful of fresh mint, leaves picked

50g onions, peeled and roughly chopped

20-50g caster sugar (depending on tartness of apples)

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Sea salt and black pepper

  1. Score the fat of the racks into roughly 2-3cm squares of diamonds, making sure that you only cut through the fat, not the meat (you can ask your butcher to do this!). Sprinkle the fat with salt and pepper and place the racks on a roasting tray, fat side up.
  2. Roast the racks for 25-30 minutes in a preheated oven, 200’c fan, (if you have a meat thermometer it should register 65-70’c). Rest for 5 minutes before carving.
  3. Meanwhile, put the apple, mint, onions and sugar (to taste) in a food processor and whiz to combine – you want it to retain some ‘chunkiness’. Season with salt and cayenne pepper (and more sugar if needed)
  4. Carve the lamb and serve 2-3 cutlets per person. Serve the chutney on the side.

Lamb with Garlic and Coriander (Serves 4)

This is a wonderful ‘all in one’ roast, the lamb is cooked on top of the potatoes which soak up all the delicious fatty juices!

2 racks of lamb with 6 cutlets each

2 heads of garlic

5 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

1½ teaspoons coriander seeds, lightly crushed

8 sprigs of thyme

1kg small salad potatoes such as Charlotte, peeled and halved

350g shallots, peeled and halved

Sea salt and black pepper

  1. Cut each rack into three, so that you have 6 pieces (double chops).
  2. Peel and chop two cloves of garlic and whisk together with 3 tablespoons of olive oil, the vinegar, coriander seeds. Add a couple of chopped thyme sprigs and some black pepper. Marinate the lamb in this mixture in the baking tin that you will cook it in, for several hours or overnight, turning once or twice and rubbing in the marinade.
  3. When ready to cook, remove the lamb from the baking tin and set aside. Add the potatoes, the remaining, unpeeled garlic cloves and the shallots to any marinade left in the tin, adding 2 tablespoons of olive oil and lots of sea salt. Give it all a good mix and roast in a preheated oven, 200’c fan, for 30-35 minutes, until the potatoes are just tender when tested with the tip of a sharp knife, but not quite done.
  4. Turn the oven up to 220’c and place the lamb on top of the potatoes, tucking in the remaining thyme sprigs. Roast for a further 15-20 minutes.
  5. To serve, cut two of the pieces (double chops) of lamb in half so that you have four individual chops, then place one double chop and a single chop on each plate, alongside the delicious roast potatoes and shallots. Green beans with Almonds are very good served with this dish (recipe here).

Provençal Rack of Lamb with Crushed Peas (Serves 4)

This is really one of the best rack of lamb recipes I have come across. It is simple yet elegant and is quick to cook, so you could easily serve it as a mid-week treat. It is definitely special enough to serve to guests, in fact it has been a favourite dinner party dish of mine over the years. It’s ideal for dinner parties as you can prepare the majority of the recipe beforehand – the lamb once bread-crumbed will happily wait to be cooked until your guests arrive – it just needs about 15-20 minutes in the oven. For a quick option, this recipe is great with steamed new potatoes, but to make it extra special serve with Dauphinoise potatoes with Gruyére cheese, recipe below. I make Dauphinoise potatoes both with and without the Gruyére, I think this lamb dish suits the latter but if you prefer it without use my other recipe (recipes here)

This recipe is from Raymond Blanc’s cookbook ‘Foolproof French Cookery’, a title which contains all my favourite words, particularly ‘foolproof’! I like to serve lamb on the pinker side, so if you prefer it more well done, cook it for a little longer. The recipe calls for fresh marjoram but this can be difficult to get so I often replace it with fresh sage, and because sage is slightly stronger in flavour I reduce it to one tablespoon instead of two (see recipe).

Ask your butcher to not only French trim the rack of lamb but also to remove the fat covering the meat, this may seem usual as the fat is normally kept to keep the lamb moist and for flavour, but in this recipe the breadcrumbs will protect the meat and give it flavour.

Gluten Free Note: Almost, all of my recipes on Menu Mistress are gluten free, or suggest substitute gluten free ingredients. Unfortunately this recipe uses breadcrumbs which cannot be substituted. If you avoid gluten but don’t have an allergy, thus can eat ‘gluten contaminated’ food, then you could eat this recipe – just scrape off the breadcrumb crust when serving the lamb, believe me it is still delicious with the crushed peas! However, if you do have an allergy to gluten unfortunately this recipe is not for you!

A Tip:  Breadcrumbs – If you don’t have stale bread at hand for the bread crumbs use a fresh ciabatta loaf , it’s texture is naturally drier so it actually will make great breadcrumbs even if it is fresh – just slice off the crusts.

For the Crushed Peas:

600g peas, thawed if frozen

85ml extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons finely chopped marjoram, or 1 tablespoon chopped sage (see note above)

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint

Juice ½ lemon

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Provençal Breadcrumbs:

75g thickly cut stale white bread (or fresh ciabatta – see ‘tip’ above)

2 handfuls fresh flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

1 teaspoon thyme, finely chopped

1 teaspoon rosemary, finely chopped

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper

For the Lamb:

2 x  racks of lamb, French trimmed and trimmed of fat (see note above)

2 tablespoons olive oil

20g unsalted butter

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Sea salt and black pepper

  1. First prepare the peas. Put them in a food processor and gently pulse to just crush them – you want them to retain a lot of texture, so be careful not to purée them! Transfer to a small saucepan, stir in the olive oil, chopped herbs and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
  2. To make the breadcrumbs place the bread in the clean food processor and pulse to make coarse breadcrumbs. Transfer to a bowl, stir in the herbs, olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
  3. Season the racks of lamb with salt and pepper. Melt the butter with the oil in  frying pan and brown the meat for 3-4 minutes on each side. Transfer to a preheated oven, 190’c fan, for 10 minutes.
  4. Remove the lamb from the oven, brush over with the mustard – avoiding the bones and ends of the meat. Press in the Provençal breadcrumbs so that the meat is coated, apart from the two ends, (you can do this a few hours in advance).
  5. Return the lamb to the oven and cook for a further 15 – 20 minutes (if you have a meat thermometer it should register 65-70’c). Rest for 5 minutes before carving.
  6. Meanwhile finish cooking the peas. Cook the crushed peas over a medium heat with the lid on for 4 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and check the seasoning.
  7. Serve the hot crushed peas on plates and top with the carved lamb cutlets.