Rosemary Garlic Marinated Rack Of Lamb Roasted

Rack of Lamb recipe

Welcome to the first recipe for Easter Week 2021! We’re kicking off with a traditional choice of meat for Easter: lamb. Not just any old lamb, though. Today we’re going for the Rolls Royce of cuts, rack of lamb! Lamb rack is a premium cut of meat and a darling of fine dining restaurants, for good reason. The meat in a rack of lamb is amongst the most tender and juicy on the animal, while still retaining plenty of flavour. Properly frenched (ie. trimmed for presentation), a whole rack of lamb makes for a seriously impressive centrepiece and screams luxury. If you’re wanting to turn a meal into an occasion, it’s hard to go past serving a rack of lamb to your lucky guests!

Rosemary Garlic Marinade for Rack of Lamb

I believe the better the meat, the less you should do to it, to allow the meat itself to really shine. And thus today we’re going with nothing more than a very simple and classic rosemary garlic marinade, and a little butter baste to finish. To serve, what could be more perfect to play against the richness of lamb than a fresh and zingy Salsa Verde? When you have meat this good, simple really is best!

What you need to cook Rack of Lamb

Here’s what you need for this recipe:

For the Lamb Rack marinade:

Rosemary – Fresh rosemary is essential, for maximum effect! The classic herb to pair with lamb;Garlic – Another classic flavouring for our lamb;Extra virgin olive oil – The flavour carrier! Also, to keep the meat surface moist; andSalt and pepper – Naturally! Also, as lamb racks are not very thick, the seasoning penetrates the lamb very well.

The Lamb Rack

The lamb rack pictured above has been frenched (“a frenched rack of lamb”). This means the lamb rack has been trimmed of excess fat and the bones cleaned. Preparing the lamb rack this way is for presentation purposes so it looks neater, as well as ensuring too much fat doesn’t land on the diner’s plate. If you’re going to splurge on a premium cut of meat, this is no time to do things by halves! 🙂 To french, the fat cap is firstly trimmed from the meat. Then the meat on and between the bones are scraped clean down to where the loin meat starts (the main strip of meat). Below is a comparison of a frenched rack of lamb (left) vs a non-frenched rack of lamb (right), and the difference is clear. Some people prefer to have the fat cap, because fat is where most of the flavour of meat is. (Fun fact: Sauté a lean beef steak in lamb fat and you’d swear you’re eating a lamb chop!) However the fat layer shrinks and buckles as it cooks, so it doesn’t look as neat. A frenched rack looks neat and tidy, and more worthy of both price tag and occasion!

How to cook a Rack of Lamb

This classic recipe for a rack of lamb begins with marinating the whole rack overnight. The lamb is then seared on the stove to get some colour before finishing in the oven to cook to your desired level of doneness. (*“Medium-rare, medium-rare!”, she whispers forcefully!*😉) Finally, we give the cooked rack a quick basting in butter for that professional, restaurant-like finish!

Serving

How to serve Rack of Lamb

Rack of lamb is already an elegant-looking dish with its clean bones and blushing pink flesh, so it plates up beautifully on individual plates like pictured above. Sometimes, butchers will sell the lamb with the bones already wrapped in foil (this is often the case with Prime Rib here in Australia); Sear all around the meat as well as the ends. Do one rack at a time in the pan – this should take around 3 minutes each; But it can also be served share-style on a big platter heaped with sides, as pictured below, with some or all of the lamb cut and ready for people to help themselves. Can you picture your loved ones’ reactions when you place this platter on the table?? I can! (Spoiler: It involves applause and ear-to-ear smiles all around.)

What to serve with a Rack of Lamb

Side salad

The herby Salsa Verde, and rosemary and garlic flavours of this lamb are broad-stroked enough that you really can pair this with virtually anything! In general, with fatty meats like lamb you’ll want a fresh salad with a nicely piquant dressing. Throughout this post the lamb is pictured with a Spring Salad which I felt was on-theme, given that lamb is at its prime in spring and all (let’s ignore that it’s currently Autumn here in Australia! 😂). The crispy greens, peas, sharp goats cheese and bright lemon dressing nicely play against the richness of the lamb meat. See here for all my Side Salad options. Some ideas: A fruity Peach Salad with Poppyseed Dressing; a traditional French Bistro Salad; autumnal Apple Salad or Fennel Salad; crunchy fresh cabbage in Our Best NO MAYO Coleslaw; Middle Eastern-inflected Pomegranate Salad or Lentil and Roasted Eggplant Salad.

Potato side dish

And on the side in the photos are Mini Potato Gratins, which are the individual stacked version of Potato Dauphinois. This format works well for a sharing style side dish. See here for all my other potato side dish options. Some ideas: classic Herb Buttered Baby Potatoes, Duck Fat Potatoes (you’ll need two ovens to do this with lamb rack though), Sweet Potato Casserole or classic creamy Mashed Potato. If you want to really reach for the stars however, look no further than Paris Mash – the richest, creamiest, most decadent and luxurious mashed potato in the world. Because, well, why not? Lamb rack deserves it! – Nagi x