One of my favorite recipes ever is Ina Garten’s Dijon Balsamic Rack of Lamb. Ina Garten got it right with this blend of ingredients. It’s an absolutely perfect rack of lamb.
My dearly loved Grandma used to make roasted lamb. She and Grandpa lived on a ranch, which was an amazingly fun place to visit as a kid. After a day of swimming with goldfish in the horse trough, dodging the psychotic rooster, and taking rides with Grandpa around the ranch in his hot pink Jeep… we would open the door to the house and become overwhelmed by the scent of lamb that had been slow-roasting most of the day. It tasted as good as it smelled too. So as a result, lamb has always been a favorite special treat.
In Ina’s recipe, you just spoon the quickie-marinade over the top of the rack and let it sit at room temp. for about an hour. Then it’s popped into the oven for a quick roasting. Roasted to medium-rare (130 degrees) is perfect for this recipe. So good!
Dijon Balsamic Rack of Lamb
Ingredients
- 1½ tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, minced
- 3 medium garlic cloves, minced
- ½ cup Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 whole racks of lamb, Frenched
Instructions
- In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, process the salt, rosemary, and garlic until they're as finely minced as possible. Add the mustard and balsamic vinegar and process for 1 minute.
- Place the lamb in a roasting pan with the ribs curving down, and coat the tops with the mustard mixture. Allow to stand for 1 hour at room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 450°F.
- Roast lamb for exactly 20 minutes for rare (or 25 minutes for medium rare). Remove from oven and cover with aluminum foil. Allow to sit for 15 minutes, then cut into individual ribs and serve.
Notes
- "Frenching" refers to scraping the meat off the tips of the bones. Ask your butcher to leave ⅛ inch of fat on the meat.
- Check lamb with an instant thermometer. Rare will be 125 degrees; medium-rare is 130 degrees.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe is delicious.
This really turned out wonderfully delicious! I was surprised it was so easy :). I didn’t use a processor or Kosher salt. I minced ingredients and used regular sea salt. I made the marinade and refrigerated it for 8 hrs, which blended flavors, then coated the lamb.