In this recipe we cook the lamb chop in the oven. We serve it with homemade ratatouille and a honey-thyme sauce.
For these lamb chops we use the whole rack of lamb. The most beautiful piece of lamb meat that’s cut from the back.
This piece is also called a frenched rack, which means that the bones have been removed, all the meat and fat have been cut from between them. This makes for a beautiful presentation. Your butcher can do this for you, but with some time and attention you can also do it yourself.
There is often still some membrane around the bone and on the meat, if you cut this off and clean the bones well, you present a gem on a plate with meat that melts on the tongue.
A lamb chop is cut from the ribs of a lamb. It’s a popular cut of meat in many cuisines around the world because of its tender texture and flavorful, juicy qualities. Lamb chops are usually small and cut individually, usually with a bit of bone attached.
They can be prepared in different ways, such as grilling, frying or roasting. Lamb chops are loved for their juiciness and the distinctive flavor of lamb, which can be either savory or subtle depending on how they’re prepared and seasoned.
View the recipe below.
Lamb chop with honey-thyme sauce and ratatouille
Ingredients
- 2 racks of lamb
- dash sunflower oil
- 50 g butter
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 4 cloves garlic
- black pepper freshly ground
- fleur de sel
- 1 bowl ratatouille recipe
- 25 cl honey-thyme sauce recipe
Instructions
- Using a small knife, scratch the last bits of meat from each bone of the rack of lamb and also cut off any membrane. You can even scrape the very last bits off the bones with a clean (and not previously used) steel sponge, so that you really get perfectly clean bones. Leave a small strip of fat at the bottom of the bones (just before the meat starts), this will melt away during preparation, but will provide extra flavor.
- If necessary, cut the membrane as thinly as possible from the meat with a thin, sharp knife. Season the meat generously with freshly ground pepper and fleur de sel.
- Preheat the oven to 140 degrees.
- Heat a dash of sunflower oil in an ovenproof frying pan and fry the rack of lamb on the meat side firmly in the oil. Turn the meat over and lower the heat slightly. Add the butter, thyme, rosemary and unpeeled garlic and continue basting with the frying butter for 5 minutes. Insert a food thermometer into the thickest part of the meat and place it in the preheated oven.
- Let the meat cook gently, basting regularly, until it reaches a core temperature of 50˚C.
- Remove from the oven and place on a rack. Let it rest for about 8 minutes and then cut it into nice chops.
- Serve on a platter with the ratatouille and serve the sauce separately.
