Parmesan and Herb Crusted Lamb Rack

Some of my favourite meals are ones I get to have very rarely. Lamb seems to feature in quite a few of them. It’s such an expensive meat these days: one a Uni student on a strict budget has to be mindful about adding to the shopping cart.

One blessing, I suppose, is that when I do find an excuse to bring a cut of it home with me you can be sure it’s respected. It won’t turn into the next slap together weeknight meal. It’s reserved for an occasion when I’ve got the time to make it a little more lavish. All the better the savour it.

Rack of lamb is such a gorgeous cut of meat, maybe even my favourite. It doesn’t take much to make it really sing. This recipe largely lets the meat speak for itself, while still adding something a little special.

You can use any breadcrumbs you like for the crust, or even make your own from day-old bread. I go for wholemeal breadcrumbs simply because of the texture they give.

A delicious cut of meat begs delicious accompaniments. I served the lamb rack atop a potato galette and served it with broccoli and corn dolloped with garlic butter.

I like my lamb medium, and as such the cooking times in this recipe are aimed at that. If you like yours on either side of medium rare, adjust your cooking time accordingly. This will serve 4 people comfortably, but it’s easy to scale up or down depending on how many mouths you have to feed.

Parmesan & Herb Crusted Lamb Rack

Ingredients

Potato Galette

6 medium sized potatoes, washed and peeled

125g unsalted butter

Lamb

2 lamb racks (8 cutlets per rack)

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsp honey

1 cup wholemeal breadcrumbs

1/2 cup (40g) parmesan cheese, finely grated

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped

1 egg, lightly beaten

Method

Potato Galette

Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced/350°F). Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Melt the butter and set aside to cool until the milk solids settle at the bottom; pour the clarified butter on the surface into a large bowl and season with ground sea salt and black pepper to taste.
Thinly slice the potatoes (a mandoline is ideal for this if you have one). Add the slices to the clarified butter and gently mix to ensure even coating.
Arrange the potato slices into individual rings, overlapping each slice with the next. It is best if you have food rings to position them inside of to retain the moisture as they cook (if you don’t have food rings, large, circular, oven-proof cookie cutters work just as well. Egg rings will probably work but they’ll be on the small side).
Bake for 40 minutes, or until golden and tender.

Lamb

Using a sharp, skinny knife, French trim the lamb racks (i.e. remove excess fat and meat to expose the bones). If you’re concerned about presentation, wrap the bones in pieces of aluminium foil to prevent them from over-browning.
Combine the mustard and honey in a small bowl, then spread evenly over the lamb. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
In a medium bowl, combine breadcrumbs, parmesan, garlic and rosemary. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the egg to bind the mixture together: if mixture is too moist to adhere to itself, add more breadcrumbs. Press the mixture over one side of the lamb racks to coat.
Arrange the lamb racks in a medium sized baking dish. Once the potatoes are 15 minutes in, add the lamb to the over and cook for 25 minutes.
Transfer the lamb rack to a large plate, cover with foil and allow the meat to rest for 5 minutes. Remove the aluminium foil from the bones before serving.