Rosemary Crumbed Rack of Lamb

Rack of lamb is a premium cut of lamb, and this roasted crusted lamb rack recipe really makes the most of it! You’ll love the rosemary and garlic flavour in the crumb, plus my cheeky trick to ensure it doesn’t fall off.

I’m also providing a selection of serving options – including an elegant Creamy White Wine Mustard Sauce!

Crumbed Rack of Lamb

This is the first rack of lamb recipe I’ve shared, and I was torn with indecision about whether to do a classic, plainly roasted version or go all out with a crumbed number, reserved for special occasions.

The crumb number won out … because who doesn’t go mad over tender, juicy lamb meat with a golden crunchy crust?? (Vegetarians are excused from answering this question 😉) Especially when we load it up with rosemary and garlic flavour, with an extra savoury boost from parmesan??

Serving options!

In today’s rack of lamb recipe, I’m also offering up 3 different ways to serve it. This originated from the fact that the RecipeTin Family have passionate and varying opinions on this particular matter of how best to serve lamb racks! And perhaps you and your clan do too, so you can choose for yourself:

1. Straight up, as is, with no sauce – Perfectly cooked lamb is soooo juicy and tender, and with the crust already punching well above its weight in the flavour division, nothing else is needed!
2. Creamy White Wine & Mustard Sauce – Pictured above, which really takes it over the top with extra flavour. I love the colour contrast and am just a total sucker for a sauce with roast meats; or
3. Pea Puree – The compromise, as it were! It does double duty as a sauce / side, with the bonus that it looks so good! That vibrant colour! That velvety texture! A very restaurant-inspired way to serve lamb ……. Recipe here.

(PS In case you are wondering, my brother is an advocate of #1, I’m all for #2, and #3 is the compromise. My mother WAS in #2, then my brother swayed her to #1. She’s so easily influenced! 😂)

What is a rack of lamb?

A rack of lamb is a premium cut of meat, and is the lamb equivalent of prime rib of beef, both anatomically-speaking, and how it is regarded. It is a section of loin meat with the rib bones attached.

Since it’s the loin, the meat in a rack is the most tender, juicy cut on the animal. When sold sliced up individually between the ribs (ie. like cutting individual ribeye steaks off a prime rib), they are called lamb cutlets here in Australia.

This is what a rack of lamb looks like:

Racks of lamb are sold either “Frenched” or untrimmed with the fat cap on.

• “Frenched” aka French-trimmed is a form of trimming a rack where firstly the fat cap is completely removed, leaving behind just the meat. The fat between the ribs is then removed. In a properly, perfectly Frenched rack, any excess meat and fat is also finally scraped from the ribs completely so when the rack cooks, the bones are completely bare. Fine dining restaurants almost always used Frenched lamb racks because it looks more elegant and the cuts comes served with much less fat attached. Frenched racks, however, are the most expensive because of the labour involved in preparation and because so much meat and fat is lost in the process!
• “Cap on” is where the lamb rack still has a layer of fat on it, like pictured above. The extent of the layer of fat varies – the one pictured above has had most of the fat trimmed away, leaving behind just a thin layer of fat. It has also been partially Frenched, as you can see some fat has been removed from between the ribs, so that it looks more a bit more like a classic Frenched rack. Sometimes you’ll see a really thick cap of fat (and also some meat under it) which is not trimmed at all, such as the one pictured in the video.

As for which is better, it really comes down to personal preference and budget. Untrimmed with fat cap on IS juicier and has a stronger lamb flavour (because fat is where most of the meat flavour is), but obviously you have, well, fat attached to your meat! It’s also much cheaper than a Frenched rack. At Harris Farm Markets in Sydney, untrimmed racks of lamb sell for as low as $18/kg (on special) whereas my butcher sells Frenched racks of lamb for $65/kg.

That is a huge discrepancy – so yes, budget is also a big factor here!

What I (usually) do:

I buy value untrimmed then I cut off most of the fat myself. It still works out much cheaper. And it doesn’t matter if I do a scruffy job because it’s all hidden under the crumb!

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Rack of Lamb crumbing ingredients

Here’s what you need for the crumb coating and the mustard spread which is used to adhere the crumb to the rack of lamb.

An egg??? Yes! Because the crumb coating is notorious for falling off with racks of lamb! Egg is the ultimate natural food glue, so adding a few teaspoons of whisked egg into the mustard really helps to make the crumb coating stick to the lamb.

It will never adhere as well as the crumb coating does on things like schnitzel and Chicken Parmigiana simply because of the shape of a rack of lamb and that we are baking rather than frying. But adding a bit of egg definitely improves the crumbing adhesion.

We only use 3 teaspoons of egg, so use the rest for your breakfast Scrambled Eggs. Easy!

I like to use a good hit of rosemary with my rack of lamb – in both the mustard spread AND the crumbing. So you can really taste it!

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How to make Crumbed Rack of Lamb

It really is nice and straightforward:

1. Sear the seasoned rack of lamb first on all surfaces – We want good browning for flavour on the surface;
2. Smear with mustard mixture – For more flavour and also to act as the “glue” for the crumb. The tang of the mustard is great with the rich lamb;
3. Press rack on to breadcrumb mixture (see video for my technique: Underside first, press, upper side, roll!); then
4. Roast!

The cook time for a rack of lamb will differ depending on the size, especially for Frenched vs untrimmed. As a guide, expect a small 500g/1lb Frenched rack to take around 20 minutes, whereas a larger untrimmed rack about 800g/1.6lb will take closer to 35 minutes.

Internal temperature of cooked lamb

Lamb racks are ideal cooked no more than medium rare, to make the most of the tender juicy flesh. It should be blushing pink! For precision cooking, take into account the concept of “carry-over cooking”, which is when the meat continues to rise slightly in temperature after being removed from the oven. I explain below.

Internal temperature for:

• Medium rare (my preferred, a rose pink) is 57°C/135°F out of oven – it will rise to 60°C / 145°F  while resting which is medium rare;
• Rare (red) – 47°C / 117°F out of oven. It will rise while resting to 52°C/125°F which is rare.

Note that because of the shape and relatively small size of lamb racks, the ends of the rack will be more cooked than the middle. This is inevitable. But it actually always seems to work out, because you usually have at least a few people who prefer more well-done lamb.

And honestly, even medium lamb rack is still very tender and juicy!

Creamy White Wine & Mustard Sauce

If you’re opting for the Creamy White Wine & Mustard Sauce option, here’s what you need:

It’s just a plonk-simmer-reduce job!

Serve it on the side so people can help themselves to as much or as little sauce as they want. It is quite intensely flavoured so you don’t actually want to drown the lamb in the sauce otherwise it will overwhelm the flavour of the lamb!

What to serve with Crumbed Rack of Lamb

One of the serving options I’m sharing today is a side of roasted vegetables which are roasted at the same time as the lamb. As root vegetables take longer to cook, they need to be parboiled before tossing in oil and roasting alongside the lamb if they are to finish cooking at the same time.

However, if you skip the roast vegetables and want something a little lighter on the side, here are some options:

• Spring Salad would be a wonderful option – given that spring lamb is the most prized of the year!
• French Bistro Salad – a new salad I just shared, this is a leafy green salad intended to be served alongside rich mains such as this; and
• lightly buttered Herb Baby Potatoes – an elegant, lighter option for a potato side that’s not drowning in cream and butter!

Otherwise, any leafy greens or steamed vegetables with a classic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing would go down a treat too.

And finally, just one parting piece of advice: Make sure you have a meat thermometer on hand. I cannot stress this enough! Don’t wing it with a rack of lamb, it’s too expensive to risk overcooking! – Nagi x

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Watch how to make it

Life of Dozer

Pool-wet Dozer not allowed inside until he dries off a bit… but..

…of course he pushes the boundaries as always!!