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This grilled rack of lamb is an easy but impressive dish cooked to perfection on the barbecue with a gorgeous vibrant green, crispy crust full of the fresh fragrant herbs of mint and thyme. The crispy crust ingredients are blitzed together with edamame beans and panko bread crumbs with Parmesan cheese and some citrus kick. We use traditional and fusion ingredients to bring flavour and drama to an exciting cut of meat that is often served as a centrepiece.
Perfectly grilled rack of lamb
A gas or charcoal barbecue works as long as it has a lid, as the crust which gets layered on the rack of lamb as a paste dries to a crunchy katsu crumb whilst the lamb meat stays beautifully moist and tender. Perfectly crisp on the outside and meltingly tender and full of flavour in the middle can be one of the challenges when cooking a rack of lamb, but the hot air that circulates inside a lidded barbecue and especially through a bed of fresh herbs not only allow the crust to crisp up but keep the inside moist and at the right temperature. This shows best when slicing for the very first time and serving. Of course, if a barbecue with a lid is not available then your oven will work.
Delicious ingredients
Lamb, in western cuisines, is traditionally paired with mint and peas! Especially lamb and mint sauce with peas on the side. A crunchy herby crust will often be blended with mint, peas and breadcrumbs. Our take on this traditional crusted lamb recipe uses varieties of these ingredients found elsewhere in the world. For example, instead of using peas, we have opted for edamame beans which are young soybeans and prevalent in Asian cooking and for breadcrumbs, we use the Japanese style panko breadcrumbs which are larger dried crispy crumbs of bread. However, not wanting to change a traditional herb crust too much into another cuisine, we have combined the fresh mint with fresh thyme which works perfectly together, and for a little more umami and zest more akin to western cuisine, we use Italian Parmesan and lemon juice.
Using Parmesan in a crust is a classic Italian way to impart immense nutty/fruity tones with an incredible savoury flavour full of umami (provided by the salty acid that forms inside the Parmesan the longer it is aged) as well as crisping up nicely. The longer the ageing process for the cheese also, the more intense the flavour, and lamb loves to be served with full flavour ingredients. For this reason, we always recommend putting in the extra budget to buy a really good Parmigiano-Reggiano. Lemon juice adds a zesty freshness that cuts through the strong savoury flavours and mellows lovingly along with the fresh herbs. Altogether, this rack of lamb has a meltingly tender texture with its pink sweet middle with an opposite yet harmonising texture with a crispy crust full of intense umami and fragrant herbs and lemon. It is also a very simple dish to put together too with a bbq cooking time of only 25-30 minutes.
Quick and easy grilled rack of lamb
Blitzing some wonderful ingredients together in a blender doesn’t take long either so once the lamb has been prepared and in the barbecue, it doesn’t leave you with much time to make extras. However, the grilled rack of lamb is very impressive by itself, what you serve on the side needs to slightly accentuate the main dish but not be too fussy. In Middle Eastern cuisine lamb is served with vibrant spiced side dishes such as cauliflower in sumac and turmeric and dips made from beans. In the essence of having our lamb dish as the centrepiece and with just some accompanying sides, rather than a full-blown roast with all the trimming and a complex jus or sauce. We recommend just parboiling some vegetables such as cauliflower or broccoli with some beans such as broad beans or haricot beans in a spiced broth made with stock and turmeric for as little as 3 minutes so that they can finish on the bbq for a few minutes just when the lamb is almost ready. For the sauce, again nothing fussy, just some burnt butter or Beurre Noisette as it is known in France.
Incredible burnt butter sauce
Gently heat some salted butter constantly whisk it so that the salt doesn’t froth the liquid too much (which is the reason many chefs prefer unsalted butter) so you can see the butter browning. Salted butter has a much more intense flavour so as it burns it becomes much more caramel flavoured which really accompanies the lamb perfectly. The final result is a very accomplished looking dish worthy of a special occasion.
When cooking red meat such as lamb, it is important to start the process with a cut that is at room temperature as it will cook through more evenly. So make sure your rack of lamb is out of the fridge for at least two hours before you are ready to start preparing it. Once it is at the ambient temperature you need to prepare the crust which will look like a dry paste. Simply combine in a blender equal measures of fresh mint leaves, fresh thyme (minus the little stalks), edamame beans (out of the shells), grated good quality Parmesan cheese/ Parmigiano-Reggiano and panko breadcrumbs together. You can use ordinary bread crumbs but if you don’t have panko bread crumbs in the cupboard it is simple to make them yourself by whizzing some fresh bread up in a processor and spread on a baking tray and heat in the oven for a few minutes until slightly golden. The larger crumbs make a better crust. Then just squeeze in the juice of half a lemon and drizzle in some good olive oil. Process this to a paste. For a decent measure to start with, use between ¼ - ⅓ of a cup, any less and you may not have enough for the blades of your blender to process it properly. If this does happen, however, it is not such a problem as you can simply add a little water until it does blend. The water will just steam off when roasting inside the barbecue. It will not affect the crispiness of the crust. Simply now just spoon and spread over the crust on top of the lamb and place the lamb on a bed of more fresh herbs on a barbecue safe heavy tray ready to place on the grill. Make sure the barbecue is hot between 225℃-250℃/437°-482°F then place the rack of lamb inside and close the lid and roast for between 25 and 30 minutes for a medium-rare lamb or longer depending on how you like your meat done.
Perfect accompaniments to grilled rack of lamb
Whilst the lamb is cooking, prepare cauliflower florets and broad beans and boil in water with added turmeric and stock (we recommend lamb as you are preparing lamb) for about 3-4 minutes until tender and that they have taken on a nice rich yellow colour. Just drain off the stock and set the vegetables aside until you are ready to place them on the barbecue to give them some charring for a few minutes when the lamb is almost ready. The burnt butter sauce can be prepared earlier and heated up but as it takes only a few minutes it is also very easy to prepare this whilst the lamb is cooking too.
Once finished this grilled rack of lamb is a real crowd-pleaser.
More lamb recipes on the blog
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The Best Moroccan Lamb Mince Lasagne with Feta Cheese
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Grilled rack of lamb with herb crust recipe
Ingredients
- 1 rack of lamb (8 ribs)
For the crust
- ¼ of a cup of fresh mint leaves
- ¼ of a cup of fresh thyme
- ¼ of a cup of shelled edamame beans
- ¼ of a cup of grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- ¼ of a cup of panko breadcrumbs
- Juice of half a lemon
- Drizzle of olive oil
Sides
- 1 cauliflower cut into florets
- 5-6 pods of broad beans
- 1 teaspoon of turmeric
- 1 lamb stock cube
Burnt butter sauce
- 200g of salted butter
Instructions
- Bring the rack of lamb up to room temperature.
How to make herb crust
- Make the crust by combining all the ingredients in a blender and process to a paste. Add a little water if the paste doesn’t blend well in your blender.
- Spoon the herb paste over one side of the rack of the lamb and spread smooth for a 1cm thickness. (Sprinkle over dried herbs if desired for a “grassy look”).
How to grill rack of lamb
- Bring a barbecue with a lid on it up to a heat of between 225℃ and 250℃/437°-482°F. Place the lamb on a bed of fresh thyme (optional) on a heat proof bbq safe metal dish and roast in the barbecue for 25-30 minutes with the lid down.
Sides (optional)
- Bring a pan of water to the boil and add the stock and turmeric. Add the broad beans, deshelled from their pods and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the cauliflower and simmer for a further 3 minutes and drain thoroughly. Set the vegetables aside and when ready finish them off on the barbecue for 4-5 minutes until slightly charred.
How to make burnt butter sauce
- For the burnt butter, cut the butter into cubes and melt on a low heat until melted. Whisk constantly and wait until the butter starts to turn a rich caramel colour, about 4 minutes or so. Be careful not to blacken the solids in the butter as this will be burnt and bitter rather than golden brown which has the desired rich sweet flavour.
How to serve
- Rest the lamb for 5 minutes before slicing and serving with the cauliflower and beans and the burnt butter.
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