Colm O'Gorman: This Middle Eastern spiced rack of lamb is perfect for sharing

Accompanied by dips and bread, this is the ideal meal if you want to get everyone involved

Middle Eastern lamb

I love cooking for a crowd and serving up food that can be shared in the middle of the table so that everyone can pile in and help themselves. It's this kind of meal that gets everyone involved and interacting, which turns a lunch or dinner into a much more social occasion. Middle Eastern food is perfect for this. A great Middle Eastern meal usually involves lots of side dishes and sauces, bread, and pickles. This lovely lamb dish is perfect as the main feature in such a feast. Lamb can be quite a heavy meat, with a deep flavour that is not to everyone’s taste. A rack of lamb though has a delicate flavour and is very tender. The best way to cook it is to sear it in a hot pan and then finish in the oven. It needs to be cooked with a little care and should be served pink. It is an expensive cut of meat, but if you prefer to use a less expensive cut, use lamb chops instead. They will also be delicious.

Serve this rack of lamb with your favourite sides; some hummus and pitta breads or flatbreads and lots of fresh pickles are always good. Aubergine is perfect with lamb, so a spiced aubergine and tomato salad would be perfect. My Banjan Borani, a beautiful Afghan aubergine and tomato dish served on whipped Greek yoghurt would be lovely. You will find that recipe on ieFood. 

Even if you do not make the Banjan Borani, do serve a yoghurt side dish with the lamb. A simple raita made with chopped cucumber, fresh mint, a little sea salt and some lemon juice would be perfect. Make lots of fresh pickles too. They are quick and easy to prepare. Simply warm 120ml of white wine vinegar in a small pan and dissolve 75g of caster sugar and a teaspoon of flaky sea salt in the vinegar. Thinly slice the vegetables you want to pickle and then divide the pickling vinegar between them. I served pickled red onion and some pickled fennel with this dish, and both were delicious. I make my pickles up in recycled jars and often just top up the jar with more sliced onions or whatever when it is empty. I use the same pickling vinegar a few times to make a couple of batches of pickles. It is very easy and inexpensive, and absolutely delicious.

Spiced Rack of Lamb

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

A great Middle Eastern meal usually involves lots of side dishes and sauces, bread, and pickles. This lovely lamb dish is perfect as the main feature in such a feast.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 1 hours 30 mins

Cooking Time

 20 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 50 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Middle Eastern

Ingredients

• 1 rack of lamb 

• 1 tsp harissa paste 

• 1 tsp chilli flakes 

• 1 tsp cumin seed 

• 1 tsp fennel seed 

• 1 clove of garlic 

• 1 lemon 

• A good splash of olive oil 

• 1 tsp flaky sea salt 

• A good grind of black pepper 

• For the Chilli Sauce 

• 2 cardamon pods 

• 1 tsp black peppercorns 

• 1 tsp coriander seed 

• 1 tsp cumin seed 

• 30g fresh coriander 

• 30g fresh parsley 

• 3 green chillies 

• 2 cloves garlic 

• ½ tsp salt 

• 1 lemon 

• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Remove the lamb from the fridge and let it come to room temperature before you cook it. 

2. Make your marinade. Grate the garlic and zest, and juice the lemon. Pop the zest and juice into a bowl and add the harissa, cumin, fennel, chilli flakes, salt and pepper and the olive oil. Combine them well. Put the lamb into a roasting dish and cover it all over with the marinade. Set aside and allow the meat to marinate for at least 90 minutes.

3. Make the chilli sauce. Remove the seeds from the cardamom pods and toast them in a dry pan along with the peppercorns and the coriander, and cumin seeds. When they are nicely toasted, grind them in a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder.

4. Wash the coriander and parsley. You can use both the stalks and leaves for this sauce, so do not discard any of the herbs. Peel and roughly chop the garlic. Remove the tops of the chillies and roughly chop those as well. Use the lot, including the pith and seeds so that you get a good strong chilli kick to your sauce. Put all the ingredients, including your ground spice and the zest and juice of the lemon into a blender or food processor. Blitz to a smooth sauce and then set aside until you are ready to serve. This sauce will keep for a few weeks in a clean jar in your fridge and is lovely with grilled meats or fish.

5. When the rack of lamb has had enough time to marinate, heat a heavy-based frying pan over ahigh heat and warm your oven to 190° Celsius. Place the rack of lamb skin side down on the hot pan and cook it until it is golden brown and the fat has started to render down. This will take about five to eight minutes. Use a pair of tongs to turn the rack over and sear the other side of the meat and the ends for about a minute each. Transfer the rack back to the roasting tray and pop it in the oven.

6. Roast the lamb for 12 minutes and then use a probe thermometer to check the internal temperature of the meat. When it is at about 48-50° Celsius, it will be cooked to perfection. If you do not have a meat thermometer, insert a metal skewer into the middle of the rack, close to the bone. If the skewer is warm when you remove it, the lamb will be nice and pink inside, and ready to take out of the oven. If it is not warm, cook the lamb for another two minutes and it should be done.

7. When the lamb is cooked, remove it from the oven, cover it with some foil and let it rest for 5-10 minutes before serving it.

8. Serve the lamb on a big platter with the chilli sauce and sides arranged all around the meat and let everyone help themselves.