A luxurious seasonal dish, great for dinner parties or a lovely treat after a hard week!
All meat and veg for this recipe was bought from the farmers market in Leigh-on-Sea and came from local Essex suppliers.
Preparation time 30 mins. Cooking time 60 mins total. This recipe serves 2.
Rack of Lamb with Port & Red Wine Jus and Herb Roasted Potatoes – what you need:
Rack of Lamb – best end, French trimmed (available from your butcher) – approx. 1kg or 2lb in weight or roughly 6-8 individual cutlets.
Fresh Rosemary x2 stalks – needles stripped off and finely chopped.
Mixed Herbs – dried is fine.
Garlic x2 cloves – finely chopped.
Sea salt and black pepper.
Olive Oil.
Potatoes x3 – medium sized (or as many as you like – I always do more than needed as they are great for dipping in the jus after!)
Seasonal veg of your choice – I’ve used runner beans, carrots and sprouts.
Port – 250ml.
Red wine – 50ml (always use a good quality wine for cooking).
Beef stock x1 cube/pot.
Plain flour – one level tablespoon mixed with 25ml water to form a paste (thickening agent for the jus).
Large frying pan.
Large Roasting dish.
Medium and small saucepans.
Rack of Lamb with Port & Red Wine Jus and Herb Roasted Potatoes – what you need to do:
1. For the lamb. Firstly mix the chopped rosemary, garlic, a large pinch of salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil to form the marinade for the lamb. Rub the marinade all over the rack of lamb, wrap foil around the exposed bone ends (to stop them from burning during cooking) and leave to one side. Get the oven on to 220°C for conventional oven or 200° for fan oven and put the roasting dish in to get hot.
2. For the potatoes. Peel and cut your potatoes into chunks and add to a saucepan of boiling water with a pinch of salt. Boil for 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes have become slightly soft on the outside – this will depend on the size of your chunks. Drain the water thoroughly and leave the lid off for the potatoes to dry. Add a sprinkle of dried mixed herbs, a pinch of salt and a tablespoon of olive oil, replace the lid and shake the saucepan gently until the potatoes are fluffy on the outside and coated in the herbs/oil/salt. Transfer the potatoes to the hot roasting dish and put in the oven for 45 minutes.
3. Prepare your vegetables for cooking later.
4. After the potatoes have been in the oven for 15 minutes, add the rack of lamb to the roasting dish and cook for 15 minutes (rare), 20 minutes (medium) or 25 minutes (well done). Once the lamb is cooked to preference, remove from oven, cover and rest on a warm plate or chopping board. Put the roasting dish with the potatoes back in the oven to finish off – turn the potatoes if necessary.
5. Steam or boil your veg with a pinch of salt.
6. For the Port and Red Wine Jus. Add the port, red wine and beef stock cube/pot to the small saucepan and bring to a simmer over a medium heat. Add the flour and water thickening mix and stir immediately. Simmer and reduce until sauce has thickened to a gravy consistency. Keep warm until ready to serve.
7. When the potatoes are done, carve the rack of lamb into individual cutlets and plate up together with the potatoes and veg. Pour over a generous helping of the jus, season and serve!
The lamb should be succulent and tender with hints of the marinade coming through and the potatoes should be crunchy on the outside, fluffy in the middle and extremely more-ish!
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