Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb with Ratatouille

Please note this recipe was in collaboration with Meet the Meat and the lamb rack was gifted to me in return for this recipe.

Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb with Ratatouille – bring the restaurant home with this special dish of lamb rack topped with a herby crust and served with ratatouille. I also served this with my Best Roast Potatoes recipe.

I made this recipe in collaboration with Meet the Meat – a fantastic butcher based in Charleston, Aberdeenshire. They sell high quality Aberdeenshire lamb from Hilton of Durris Farm and asked me to create a recipe using a lamb rack. Unfortunately the guys at Meet the Meat feel lamb is under appreciated and overlooked in favour of other cuts of meat. This shouldn’t be the case here in Aberdeenshire where there is so much local lamb available – and of course because it is delicious! I did a poll over on my Instagram page to see who enjoyed lamb and 75% said yes – so it’s a mystery as to why it isn’t bought enough for home cooking. Maybe people see lamb as a restaurant dish that is too difficult to cook at home. This couldn’t be further from the truth as lamb cookery isn’t too different to cooking beef. One thing I highly recommend for any accurate meat cookery is a meat thermometer as it means perfectly cooked meat every time with no fear of under or overcooking. A lamb rack looks very impressive but is actually very easy to prepare and serve.

Order lamb rack from Meet the Meat, try out this recipe and let us both know how you got on!

Recipe

Serves 2 generously

Difficulty level: Home Cook

Ingredients:

For the Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb:

• Rack of lamb, french trimmed
• Dijon mustard
• Handful each of parsley, basil and tarragon
• 2 sprigs of rosemary
• Thick of stale bread (I used sourdough)
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 4 anchovies from a tin or jar
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil

For the Ratatouille:

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 500ml passata
• Three sprigs of thyme
• A courgette, orange pepper, aubergine and two beef tomatoes, very finely sliced (around 0.5cm)
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Parmesan, to serve

Method:

1. First, make the ratatouille. Add three tablespoons of olive oil into a pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and sweat for 10 minutes to soften without colouring too much.
2. Add the garlic and thyme to the pan and cook for a minute before adding the passata and a good seasoning of salt and pepper. Simmer for five minutes whilst you slice the vegetables. Preheat the oven to 180C.
3. Use a baking dish that will snugly fit all the vegetables. Pour in the passata and then alternate the vegetables by arranging them upright in the passata, in a spiral type shape- it doesn’t have to be neat! Drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle over some salt and pepper and some more thyme leaves. Cook in the oven for around 30 minutes until soft and cooked through. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
4. Whilst the ratatouille is cooking, prepare the lamb. Season the lamb all over with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Heat a pan over a high heat and sear on all sides for just 30 seconds or so on each side until nicely browned.
5. Remove from the heat and brush on a tablespoon of Dijon mustard.
6. For the herbed crust, put all ingredients, a good grind of salt and pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil in a food processor. Pulse until it looks like bright green breadcrumbs.
7. Press the herb mix on to the meaty side of the lamb rack.
8. Cook the lamb rack in the oven, crust side up, for approximately 15-20 minutes for a medium rare finish. The best way to know if the lamb is cooked is to insert a thermometer into the thickest part of the meat. Remove when it reaches 50C. The temperature will increase and it will continue cooking during resting.
9. Remove the lamb rack from the oven, wrap in foil and rest for 10 minutes.
10. Carve the lamb rack by holding the bones upright and slicing all the way through, in between each bone, to separate each lamb chop. Serve the lamb on a plate with the ratatouille and sprinkle over some grated or shaved Parmesan.