Roasted Rack of Lamb with Rosemary and Garlic
Half way through March already! Please send Spring! I wish I could have grilled this but the weather was so not cooperating…so oven roasted rack of lamb it is.
We were lucky enough to enjoy a trip to Ireland several years ago for business. We decided to take advantage of the fact that we were there and stayed some extra time to really appreciate the sights and people of Ireland. As for the food, yummy! In the beautiful coastal town of Kinsale we enjoyed some amazing sea food, but the balance of the trip I seemed to be eating more than my share of roasted lamb shank with root veggies and brown bread. Yes, lamb. It was so delicious I just couldn’t stop! Back in the US the only lamb I can really appreciate is Australian lamb or sometimes lamb raised by responsible local farmers who allow them to graze freely on grass, etc.
As much as I enjoyed their beautiful lamb shanks my family prefers rack of lamb, so when we are lucky enough to enjoy a nice lamb dinner I usually grab racks. Lucky for me Costco has a decent price on Australian racks and they are super delicious!
Lamb may sound like a kitchen challenge, but I will say fear not! It is a very easy meat to prepare as there is plenty of fat, so if you accidentally cook it a few minutes too long it isn’t a huge deal. I much prefer to use my grill for lamb, but let’s face it sometimes that just doesn’t work out. So today, we are going for a beautiful oven roasted rack.
Step one, prepare your meat by rubbing it with olive oil, rosemary, crushed garlic, course salt and fresh ground pepper. Let it rest for about an hour on the counter, taking the chill off of it so it can be properly seared.
Heat a large roasting pan on high. Drizzle in a bit of olive oil and swirl it around to coat the pan. To avoid smoking too much I pull the pan off the heat for a moment when I add the oil. Returning the hot oiled pan to the stove place your lamb meat/fat side down and sear for about 4 mins per side, or until you have a nice sear on each side. Carefully (the bones will be hot) stand the racks up, meat on the bottom, rib bones on up, interlocking the ribs with other rack. Roast in 400 degree oven or an additional 10-15 minutes or until meat reaches desired doneness, remove from oven.
Let rest 5-7 minutes. It looks pretty amazing to set this on a pretty serving platter, but feel free to take it up a notch cutting the ribs apart by slicing in between bones to make a bone in chop and dipping it in some black and white sea salt. Serve with some sautéed green beans and roasted garlic potatoes and you have yourself a gourmet meal, with your active cooking time around 30 minutes. Enjoy, Cheers!
Roasted Rack of Lamb with rosemary and garlic
Ingredients
- 2 racks of lamb
- 5 cloves of crushed garlic
- 1 Tablespoon rosemary, use fresh if possible
- 2-3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon course sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Mix garlic, rosemary, 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and pepper in a small bowl. Remove lamb from refrigerator, rub lamb with the garlic/herb oil.
- Let rest on counter for about an hour.
- Heat a large shallow roasting pan on high heat.
- Once your pan is hot pull it off the heat for a moment, swirl in remaining olive oil to coat bottom of pan.
- Sear lamb approximately 4 minutes per side
- Stand racks up meat side down, bones up.
- Interlace the bones to join the two racks together.
- Roast in 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes until desired temperature is reached.
- Remove from oven and allow to rest or 5-7 minutes to allow juices to redistribute.
- To serve, slice in between ribs and serve as a bone in chop. Dip in additional course salt if desired.
- Enjoy, cheers!
Great post well done you should keep up this good work, reading it all the way from Ireland tom http://www.citymarketing.ie
Super article, keep up the good work , tom http://www.leafletexperts.ie
🙂 Happy Holidays !!
You too thank you!