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:

• 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.
   

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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.

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.

   

    

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.

   

    

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.
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.
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.
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.
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!