Recipe: Roast rack of lamb with champ and mint sauce

We love our Sunday roasts..

Last week, we cooked roast lack of lamb for our Sunday Dinner instead of our usual roast beef. This was my first time cooking rack of lamb so I looked for some recipes online and thankfully it was a success. 

Firstly, you need to French-trim your lamb racks (or get your butcher to do it). There are various types of marination styles, but I steer cleared of herb-crusts and instead picked a simple Dijon mustard-herb marinade. Before roasting the lamb, it is recommended to brown it on a pan to get a nice caramelised flavour. Roasting time is dependent on the size and thickness of your lamb rack, but according to Jamie Oliver, 26 minutes is recommended for medium rare doneness. Thankfully I had a meat thermometer, so all I had to do was to ensure to get 70°C at the thickest part of the meat for medium rare doneness (it took me about 30 minutes in a 180°C oven to achieve this).

We served our lamb racks with champ, the Irish version of mash potatoes, plus spring onions (or chives). It was a lovely accompaniment to our lamb rack. I also made my own fresh mint sauce which went very well with the lamb. I do hope this recipe will prove useful for those wishing to make roast lamb this weekend.

Wishing you all a great weekend!

Nicely cooked

Juicy and tender

Roast rack of lamb with champ and mint sauce
Preparation time: 15-20 minutes
Cooking time: 30-35 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients
2 4-bone rack of lamb (approx. 1.1kg)

For the marinade
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped (I used dried)
1 tbsp Dijon mustard (will increase this next time to 2 tbsp)
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tbsp dried parsley

For the champ
8 large Russet potatoes, peeled and diced
Butter
Chives
Spring onion
Milk
Salt and pepper

For the glaze/sauce
1 OXO cube
1 cup of boiling water
Pepper

1. Firstly, French trim the lamb rack i.e. remove all the trim from between the bones. Also remove most of the fat from the back of the rack, leaving just a little to flavour the meat while it cooks.

2. For the meat marinade, place all ingredients in a bowl and mix. Rub the mixture over the flesh and leave it to marinate for at least 1 hour (the longer the better) in the fridge. Remove the marinated lamb from the fridge 30 mins before cooking.

3. Preheat oven to 180°C. While the oven is preheating, heat a frying pan on a high heat. Add some olive oil and the lamb rack, meat side down and brown well. This will take approximately 2 minutes, then using tongs, flip it over and brown the other side for another 2 minutes. This is to add a rich caramelised flavour to the meat.

4. Place in a roasting tin and roast for 30 minutes. The best way to test the doneness and not overcook it is to use a meat thermometer as your oven and size of lamb rack may differ from mine. Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the meat, and when it reads 70°C, it's a perfect medium rare. Remove from oven and leave to rest for 15-20 minutes before carving into cutlets and serving.

5. Using the same pan used to brown the meat, add 1 OXO cube (if you have time you can make a stock beforehand) mixed with 1 cup of boiling water. Scrape the brown bits on the pan with a wooden spoon as well as the juices left on the roasting tin from the roast rack of lamb and simmer to a sauce-like consistency.

6. To make the champ, boil your potatoes for 15 minutes and then mash using a potato press. Place milk in a pan with spring onions and boil for 3-4 minutes until cooked, then add to the mash. Alternatively, you can just add finely chopped chives to the mash potatoes and some cold milk. Add butter and season with salt and pepper for a creamy champ.

7. To serve, place the champ followed by 2 lamb cutlets per serving, some carrots and homemade fresh mint sauce (click here for recipe). Glaze the lamb racks with some of the sauce.

Finger licking good!

You can also serve your roast rack of lamb with mashed potatoes, steamed brocolli, homemade mint sauce and a red wine sauce (add 2 tbsp of red wine to step 5 above). 

Click here for the recipe for homemade fresh mint sauce.

*This recipe was featured on Asian Food Channel's FB page on 27 November 2012.