How to prepare a rack of lamb with a crust

Herb and Dijon-crusted rack of lamb with Niçoise vegetables and gratin potatoes

How to prepare a rack of lamb with a crust

8 December 2014

How to prepare a rack of lamb with a crust

Making a herb crust for a rack of lamb is a great way to add texture and flavour to the meat.

Crusts are usually made from a mixture of breadcrumbs, herbs and spices. Choose the ingredients according to what will work with the other components of the dish as well as the flavour of the lamb itself. Herbs such as thyme, parsley, tarragon, chervil and oregano work particularly well.

Ensure that the meat is room temperature before commencing.

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

  • 50g of parsley
  • 20g of parsley
  • 20g of chervil
  • 10g of grated Parmesan
  • 1 tbsp of vegetable oil
  • 1 lamb rack, french trimmed
  • 50g of Dijon mustard
  • 100g of breadcrumbs, fresh

Method

1
Preheat the oven to 180˚C/gas mark 4.
2
Blitz the breadcrumbs, parsley, chervil and Parmesan in a food processor until a crumb consistency
3
Place a frying pan over a high heat and add the oil
4
When hot, season the lamb with salt and fry until golden brown.
5
Remove the lamb from the pan and brush all over with the mustard then coat in the herb crumbs
6
Transfer to a rack and place in the oven for 10 minutes
7
Leave to rest for at least 5 minutes before serving

Variations

Vineet Bhatia uses a spice crust of cumin seeds, cardamom pods, dried chilli, coriander seeds, sesame seeds, breadcrumbs, coriander stalks, basil stalks and butter for his spice-crusted lamb recipe.

Matthew Tomkinson uses Dijon mustard, breadcrumbs, parsley and tarragon in his Herb and Dijon-crusted rack of lamb with Nicoise vegetable and gratin potatoes. Paul Heathcote uses a similar combination of garlic, thyme, rosemary, parsley and breadcrumbs bound together with egg whites in his lamb dish.

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