Roasted rack of English lamb with chargrilled Provencal vegetables, olive tapenade and basil pesto
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Tender racks of lamb go beautifully with the sunshine flavours of chargrilled vegetables and basil in this simple main course from Matthew Tomkinson. This roast lamb recipe is a perfect alternative to traditional Sunday lunch.
First published in 2015
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Ingredients
Metric
Imperial
Rack of English lamb
- 4 4-bone racks of English lamb
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper
Chargrilled vegetables
- 1 courgette, sliced length ways
- 1/2 aubergine, sliced length ways
- 1 red pepper, peeled and cut into 4
- 1 yellow pepper, peeled and cut into 4
- 50ml of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 4 sprigs of thyme, picked
- salt
Tapenade
- 100g of pitted green olives
- 10ml of extra virgin olive oil
Pesto
- 1 bunch of fresh basil
- 1/2 garlic clove
- 20g of Parmesan, grated
- 20g of pine nuts, toasted
- 30ml of extra virgin olive oil
- salt
- caster sugar
SAVE RECIPE
Method
1
Blend the pesto ingredients together until smooth in a food processor and place to one side
- 1 bunch of fresh basil
- 20g of Parmesan
- 20g of pine nuts
- 30ml of extra virgin olive oil
- caster sugar
- 1/2 garlic clove
- salt
2
Then, for the tapenade, simply pulse the olives and oil together in blender until smooth but with a little texture remaining, then set to one side
- 100g of pitted green olives
- 10ml of extra virgin olive oil
3
Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas mark 6. In a large hot sauté pan, place a tablespoon of olive oil and then the seasoned lamb racks, fat side down. Allow to colour well and then turn over and colour all sides evenly
- 4 4-bone racks of English lamb
- olive oil
- pepper
- salt
4
Return to being fat side down and place in the hot oven for 12–15 minutes. Remove from the oven and rest, reserving any resting juices to drizzle over before serving
5
While the lamb cooks, prepare the chargrilled vegetables. In a small pan warm 30ml of the olive with the garlic and thyme until it starts to sizzle. Remove from the heat and season with salt
- 30ml of extra virgin olive oil
- 4 sprigs of thyme
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- salt
6
Toss the vegetables with the remaining olive oil and season. In a very hot chargrill pan sear them until cooked. Cut into small pieces and place in the flavoured oil to marinade
- 1 courgette
- 1/2 aubergine
- 1 red pepper
- 1 yellow pepper
- 20ml of extra virgin olive oil
7
To serve, place a pool of the pesto to one side of the serving plate and a quenelle of the tapenade on the other. Reheat the vegetables in the oven and place over the pesto. Carve each rack in half and drizzle with some of the resting juices. Serve
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