Spiced Rack of Lamb over Parsnip, Fennel Puree and Roasted Root Vegetables (2 Hour Total Cook Time)

Quick Overview: Lamb is this deliciously juicy yet flavorful protein that I’ve always really wanted to make but never got to due to time constraints and other life reasons.  That said, a rather ambitious idea for a recipe entered my head the other day so I had to go out and make it.  About halfway through though I realized I was a bit over ambitious and changed things slightly.

That said, the dish comes together rather cohesively and better than I had anticipated as I had some concerns about the individual components not complimenting each other too well but turns out my concerns were misplaced.

Ingredients:

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Not everything is shown here and there are some extraneous things as well since I realize about halfway through cooking this that I got a bit too ambitious.
  • One Pound Rack of Lamb
  • Some amount of Parsnips and Carrots
  • A “thing” of Fennel
  • Some sort of red wine
  • Dried Cherries
  • Fresh Raspberries and Blackberries
  • Fresh Thyme and Mint
  • Garlic, Honey, Olive Oil or Grape Seed Oil, Salt, Pepper, Flour, Turmeric, Sumac, and Cumin

Recipe: 

  1. Peel the Carrots and Parsnips.

     

  2. Chop the carrots and parsnips into small pieces.  Then throw the parsnips into a pot with water.  Salt the water, bring it to a boil and then allow to simmer until the parsnips are soft.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
  3. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

  4. Chop fennel into small pieces.

  5. Toss fennel and carrots in oil.  Season with salt, pepper, garlic, and fresh thyme.
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  6. Toss the tray with the carrots and fennel into the oven.  Leave them in there until they start to brown/caramelize.  This will probably take a good 15-20 minutes probably.
  7. In a small bowl mix salt, pepper, a bit of flour, turmeric, cumin, sumac, honey, garlic, fresh thyme, and olive oil and blend until you get a thick slurry.
  8. Using that slurry, smother the rack of lamb.
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  9. Take the carrots out of the oven.  Set the oven to 450 for the rack of lamb.
  10. Take 3/4ths of the roasted fennel and all of the carrots.  Set those aside.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
  11. Using the remaining fennel and the boiled parsnips, blend it together with a bit of the water you boiled the parsnips in with some salt and cheese.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
  12. Roast the rack of lamb at 450 F for 15 minutes.  After 15 minutes take it out and turn it over and finish at 300 F for 10 minutes. Internal temp should be around 125 F when it is finished.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
  13. Taking some of the burnt pieces of rub and oil from the lamb and mix it with a bit of red wine, the cherries, fresh raspberries and blackberries in a pan and bring it to a boil.  Salt slightly and add honey to taste.  What you’re aiming for her is a slightly sweet, acidic sauce with a hint of salt since we’re not aiming to make a fruit glaze of this but rather something to cut through the underlying richness of everything else in this dish.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
  14.  Get a few dollops of greek yogurt, zest the lemon, and chiffonade – a fancy word for chop in this case – some fresh mint and mix it together.  Use this to garnish your lamb.
  15. Enjoy!OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

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