It’s officially spring, and the whole farm is shouting it out loud. We are drowing in goat kids and little lambs, the first bulbed flowers are opening, we are woken up each morning in our tent by overly eager phoebes ready for the new day.
There is not a time a year I feel more energized, ready for what’s to come and hyperaware of every change this season brings.
It’s also the time a year for some special celebratory meals. Whatever holiday or start of season you may celebrate, this rack of lamb recipe is worth it. I always baked racks of lamb or goat with higher heat, but after trying this recipe, I can’t imagine going back to that again any time soon.
Here’s what you’ll need:
For 2 people:
3 tbsp of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp of marjoram
1 tsp of oregano
Grated zest of an organic lemon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
For gremolata:
1/4 cup of flat leaf parsley
2 cloves of garlic
Grated zest of half an organic lemon
Tbsp of olive oil
As always, we play around with what we have, so no need to make a supermarket run if you’re out of one of the herbs.
How to cook it:
Warm up the oven to 250F (unless you use a Romertopf like I did, then turn on the oven at 250 when you place the pot in).
Mix the herbs, chopped garlic, grated lemon, salt, pepper and olive oil together in a bowl.
Rub the mixture all over the leg. Place the rack in the ovensafe pot you like to use, and poor the rest of the marinate on top.
I used a slightly cracked, thriftstore found Romertopf here, which I highly recommend (the pot, not the cracks necessarily). You soak the lid in water half an hour before it goes in the oven (note, a Romertopf goes into a cold oven!), and the meat stays lipsmackingly juicy. However, if I would have had my Dutch oven available (it had yogurt culturing in it), I would have used that.
A good fitting lid is important, a sheet of parchment paper between a pot and an ill fitting lid will do, or if you use aluminium foil, you could wrap it up in that.
Put the lid on the pot, and place it in the oven.
And now.. leave it in there for about 4 hours. I checked it as little as I could to keep the moist from evaporating, but there were plenty of juices.
After four hours, the meat will be so tender it will fall of the rack.
While the rack is resting, prepare a quick gremolata. Cut up the parsley, garlic and lemonzest, and spoon some on top of the
rack before serving. I served it with a radicchio salad with some orange and walnuts, but go ahead and combine with whatever you like.
