Roasted Rack of Lamb

two lamb chops on a plate with a whole rack of lamb on a bed of bay leaves

This roasted rack of lamb is coated with a delicious pistachio herb crust. It's a perfect special occasion dinner that will impress - without much effort on your part!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Servings people

Calories 1455kcal

Author Pina Bresciani

Ingredients

1 rack of lamb, frenched
3 tbsp + 1 tsp olive oil
½ cup shelled pistachios
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoon bread crumbs
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
2 tablespoon mostarda syrup
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Remove lamb from fridge and let it come to room temperature. Preheat oven to 400°F.
To a food processor, add pistachios, bread crumbs, parmesan, rosemary and thyme. Process in the food processor until a very coarse sand texture forms.
Add pistachio mixture to a plate, and add 2 tablespoon olive oil. The texture should feel slightly moist.
Rub lamb with 1 teaspoon olive oil and season on all sides with salt and pepper.
Heat a pan on the stove over medium heat - add 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
Once oil is hot, add the rack of lamb, and sear it on all sides, about 4-5 minutes total.
Remove rack of lamb from the pan and place it on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Using a basting brush, brush the mostarda on the fat-side of the rack of lamb.
Pat pistachio mixture on top of mostarda, ensuring it adheres to the mostarda. Remove any excess pistachio mixture that has fallen onto the parchment paper, or else it will burn when baked.
Roast the lamb on the baking sheet in the oven for 20-25 minutes. I roasted mine for 23 minutes - I like mine on the rarer side.
Remove lamb from the oven - remove it from the baking sheet and let it rest for 10 minutes.
To serve, carve the racks between the bones to cut into chops.

Notes

I only used the syrup from the mostarda to brush on the lamb - not the pieces of fruit that are in the jar as well.
If you can't find mostarda, you can use a fruit spread instead (like a fig spread), or dijon mustard would work well too.
When coating the lamb with the pistachio mixture, make sure to remove any of the mixture that has fallen on to the parchment paper - or else it will burn in the oven.
Make sure to remove the rack of lamb from the baking sheet once you remove it from the oven. The baking sheet is hot and leaving the lamb on the baking sheet will cause it cook more.

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