Ina Garten-Inspired Rack of Lamb
The fat cap on a rack of lamb is either the best part of it or the part everyone leaves on the plate, and the difference is made in the first five minutes.
Fat needs time at a moderate temperature to melt. A hot pan sets the outside instantly and traps the rest as a thick, soft layer underneath. Put the rack fat-side down in a cold, dry pan, then turn the heat to medium. As the pan comes up, the fat renders out steadily, the cap thins, and what is left crisps.
You end up with three or four tablespoons of lamb fat in the pan, which is the best thing you will ever roast a potato in.
Jump to the recipe ↓Ina Garten-Inspired Rack of Lamb
Serves 4 · Main
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Total
- 50 min
Moderate8 steps, a technique that commonly fails
Ingredients
- 2 racks of lamb, 7–8 bones each, fat scored
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 60 g panko breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
- 1 tbsp chopped rosemary
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Method
- Salt the racks and leave them at room temperature .1 hour
- Heat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan).
- Put the racks fat-side down in a cold, dry pan, then turn the heat to medium. Render , until the cap is thin and brown.8–10 minutes
- Sear the other surfaces briefly and set the racks aside.
- Mix the panko, herbs, garlic and oil.
- Brush the fat side with Dijon, then press the crumb mixture on.
- Roast , until the centre reads 52°C.15–20 minutes
- Rest before cutting between the bones.10 minutes
Score the fat, not the meat
Shallow cuts across the cap, about a centimetre apart, just through the fat. They open channels for it to escape and stop the cap contracting and pulling the rack into a curve. Cut into the meat and you lose juice instead.
Pull it at 52°C
Lamb is unforgiving. At 52°C it is properly pink; by 60°C it is grey and the fat has gone waxy. A rack is small, so carryover is only about 3°C — but it happens fast, and five minutes of inattention is the whole margin.
Why mustard under the crust
It is glue. Dijon is thick enough to hold breadcrumbs onto a curved surface and it does not slide off in the oven the way oil or butter does. Its sharpness cooks away almost entirely, so it is doing structural work rather than flavouring.
Storing
Two days. Do not reheat it — leftover rack of lamb is better cold, sliced thin, than warmed to grey. If you must, thirty seconds under a hot grill on the cut face only.
Questions people ask
What temperature for pink lamb?
52°C at the centre, rested. It rises about 3°C off the heat.
Should I ask the butcher to french the bones?
Yes, if you want it to look the part. It makes no difference to the cooking.
Why start in a cold pan?
Fat renders gradually as the pan heats. Dropped into a hot pan it seizes and stays thick.
Can I crumb it in advance?
Sear and crumb up to six hours ahead, keep it in the fridge, and add two or three minutes to the roast.
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