Rack of lamb in the oven

Today's recipe is a rack of roast lamb (or roast lamb chops), an exquisite dish that you will obtain after a simple marinade and a really easy-to-follow preparation. It is brought to us by Patricia, author of Sabores&Momentos , and I am convinced that both its presentation and its flavour will delight you.

Merry Christmas to everyone, I haven't told you anything here! Yes, we're already halfway through Christmas and about to say goodbye to the year, it seems unbelievable, but 2016 has flown by! That means we've lived it intensely, right? Well, I wish you a very happy 2017 full of health and fulfilled dreams... So it's time to fight for them!

Now that we are fully immersed in this wonderful season of winter, when the warmth of the home and the oven on comforts us, today I wanted to bring you a recipe that is just as good for treating ourselves on special days as it is for any weekend when we want roasted meat to be the star. A colorful and exquisite rack of lamb, prepared in a simple way but with a spectacular appearance!

Wooden board with T&G painted knob, Pallarès knife , Emile Henry ceramic mortar and Rösle copper saucepan

The carré is a set of small chops on a stick, with the stick left exposed to add colour and served baked in groups of three or four.

It should always be prepared using the chops of “normal” or young lamb, because if we use the suckling lamb chops, they are so tiny that we would have nothing to put in our mouths.

Here I have baked it whole for the photo, but when you prepare it you should ask your butcher to prepare it properly. On the one hand, he should remove the skirt, which you can use for a stew or even to make a sauce for your carré ; on the other hand, it is also important that he removes the spine bone, because otherwise you will not be able to cut them with the knife and you will make a mess. The ribs have to remain floating, to make your work easier at the table!

To prepare a rack of lamb you have several options. You can always make it “en crôute” with a crust of breadcrumbs, Provencal herbs or even grated cheese; or cover it with Wellington-style puff pastry… But I have opted for this simple option, prepared in the oven with a topping of herbs, shallots and 1 head of garlic, having left them to marinate overnight with a few aromatic ingredients and a good splash of wine (you can choose the one you like best, Rioja, Somontano…). Above all, don’t forget the garlic, as it is fantastic for lamb: it makes it lose that characteristic “animal” smell/taste, a real plus! And if you don’t like the sticks toasted, you can cover them with a bit of aluminium foil… I like them burnt, but that’s a matter of taste.

It's simple, you will bake one loaf per diner and if you can't fit them all at once, since they are made so quickly, you just have to take out the first batch, let them rest covered with aluminum foil while you bake the second batch and so on.

I have prepared them in my new copper pot from Rösle , which I love, because you serve it directly on the table and it is a sight to behold! I accompanied it with some country potatoes, which I steamed for a few minutes, then put them in the oven with the meat to acquire all the flavour!

Ingredients (for 4-6 people)

To marinate

• 4-6 racks of 4 or 5 ribs each
• 1 glass of red wine (designation of origin to taste)
• 2-3 tablespoons of virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of sherry vinegar
• Flake salt
• Several branches of fresh rosemary
• Several sprigs of fresh thyme
• Fresh Tarragon
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped

For the baked carrés

• Ground black pepper
• Pinch of garlic powder
• Pinch of dried rosemary
• 600gr of small potatoes
• 5-6 shallots
• 1 whole head of garlic, cut horizontally
• Flake salt

Luigi Bormioli airtight jar and Emile Henry oval baking tray

Preparation

First we marinate the meat:

We proceed with the recipe:

1. When preparing the carrés, preheat the oven to 200ºC.
2. We steam the potatoes so that they are tender, since the lamb cooks quickly in the oven and there would not be enough time for the potatoes to be ready. To cook them, you can use a steamer or a pot with a steamer accessory .
3. In a bowl or mortar, mix the salt, dried rosemary, garlic powder and ground black pepper. Sprinkle the mixture over our carrés.
4. In the copper pot or any ovenproof tray, we put the lamb, the shallots, the chopped head of garlic and the potatoes that we have previously prepared to make them tender.
5. We sprinkle everything with a generous splash of extra virgin olive oil.
6. Bake for about 15 minutes to get the meat just right, less time if you like it rarer or a little longer if you like it more well done. Serve immediately, as it is delicious straight out of the oven!

Rösle Copper Saucepan and Textured Ceramic Plate

Grades:

• You can prepare the marinade mix a few days in advance and store it like I did in an airtight jar (Luigi Bormioli's are great for this). You can even prepare more than you need and have it ready in case you want to grill meat with a different touch another day or if you plan to make chicken or any other roast meat. It's very handy to have aromatic oil mixes in the pantry!
• In this recipe I show you two trays in which you can prepare this meat, the Emile Henry oval oven tray and the Rösle copper pan. I seasoned the chops in the ceramic one, then transferred everything to the copper one, but it is definitely best to do everything in the tray in which you are going to bake. Both dishes are great for this!