Nothing feels more like spring to me than roast lamb, and we know that season is coming the moment we start putting it on our restaurant menu. We buy the whole animal and use every part of it, but my favourite cut is definitely the chops. When I was growing up, my mum would always roast lamb on Easter Sunday and serve it with potatoes and a tangy green sauce, so we usually do something similar at Cafe Cecilia.
Herb-crusted lamb rack, baked potatoes, radicchio and green sauce
Prep 20 min
Cook 1 hr
Serves 2
3 tbsp curly parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp finely chopped rosemary leaves
1 tbsp finely chopped oregano leaves
170g fresh white breadcrumbs (made from 2- to 3-day-old bread, ideally)
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
8-10-rib rack of lamb, french-trimmed (ask the butcher to do this, if need be)
1 tbsp dijon mustard
For the potatoes and radicchio
6 pink fir potatoes, or 2 large chipping potatoes, washed but unpeeled
½ head radicchio
1 tsp thyme leaves, chopped
For the green sauce
1 garlic clove, peeled
4 good-quality salted anchovies
1 large handful parsley leaves, chopped
1 small handful mint leaves, chopped
1 small handful dill leaves, chopped
1 tsp dijon mustard
Zest of 1 lemon
200ml olive oil
Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7. In a bowl, mix the parsley, rosemary, oregano, breadcrumbs, a teaspoon of salt, a good grind of pepper and a tablespoon of olive oil.
Warm a grill pan, then oil it. Season the lamb, then lay it fat side down in the hot pan and grill for nine minutes, slightly moving it around every now and then so the fat gets evenly coloured.
Transfer the lamb to a baking tray fat side up, then spread the mustard evenly all over the fat. Press in the herb mix, then roast for 22 minutes, until the meat has an internal temperature of 54C (use a meat thermometer). Remove and leave to rest for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, thinly slice the potatoes, ideally using a mandoline, then thinly slice the radicchio. Put both in a large bowl, add a glug of olive oil, the picked thyme, and some salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Tip on to a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper, then roast for 25 minutes, until the potatoes are totally soft to the tip of a knife and have coloured a little on top.
To make the green sauce, crush the garlic and anchovies in a mortar, then combine with the herbs, mustard, lemon zest and olive oil. Season to taste, and add more olive oil if you prefer a looser consistency.
Carve the rested lamb and serve the chops on a bed of the potatoes and radicchio and spoon the green sauce on top.
Max Rocha is chef-owner of Cafe Cecilia, London E8
