Pistachio Crusted Rack of Lamb. A rack of lamb is seared, then coated with Dijon Mustard and a crunchy layer of a ground pistachios and bread crumbs. Roasted in the oven until tender and juicy gives you a restaurant quality dinner. Easier than you think and impressive.
When I was growing up, having a chop for dinner meant you were having a pork chop, fried. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I first ordered lamb chops at an upscale restaurant.
So beautifully cooked, I thought cooking lamb at home would be fussy and difficult. Then we had grilled lamb chops at a friend’s house, I knew if David could cook it, I could cook it. I’ve learned that the best thing about lamb is that is so forgiving.
Lamb is good rare, medium, and well-done, and its exterior develops a crispness that rivals that of the skin of pork and chicken, or the exterior of perfectly grilled beef. And it will do this all without much fuss.
Preparing a Rack of Lamb, Frenching
This Summer at Cooking School, we prepared rack of lamb. New for me. After being handed a rack of lamb we were instructed to clean the bones using the “frenching” method. It truly was a labor of love, and a very difficult task. I wrestled with that chunk of meat for over an hour, and I swear there was a moment where I thought I’d cry out of frustration.
Frenching means to strip meat and membrane away from the bone to give it a clean appearance. See that beautiful little clean handle – that takes a lot of work. Our knife skill training at school was extensive and I’m very glad for that. Here’s a link from Serious Eats if you’re interested in learning Knife Skills, How to Clean and French a Lamb Rack.
To recreate this recipe, I gladly paid the extra dollars for an already Frenched rack of lamb at my local grocer. After all, my boning knife and I still aren’t speaking over the whole ordeal.
Let’s take a look at the process for this beautiful Lamb Chop Dinner.
First, coat the lamb with olive oil, fresh thyme leaves, fresh rosemary leaves and salt and pepper. Marinate in the refrigerator for two hours. Bring the lamb to room temperature. Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Add neutral oil such as vegetable oil. When oil is hot, add lamb and sear on each side until you get a good brown crust. Remove from heat.
When the lamb has cooled slightly smear generously with Dijon Mustard.
In the meantime, in a food processor add the pistachios and pulse until rough chopped. Add Panko bread crumbs and some butter. Gently pulse again until mixed. Press the mixture onto the lamb until well coated. Roast the lamb in the oven until thermometer reaches 160 and enjoy.
Note: It’s important to use a meat thermometer for this recipe. Over temperatures vary, so keeping track of the internal temperature is important to insure a perfect roast.
I served this with puy lentils and a variety of roasted squash for a lovely Fall dinner.
Recipe for Pistachio Crusted Rack of Lamb
I hope you give this crusted rack of lamb recipe a try, and if you do, please come back and give the recipe a star rating. And leave a comment about your experience with the recipe.
And if you have a favorite crusted rack of lamb recipe, let me know, I’d love to give it a try.
More Lamb Recipes
- Grilled Lamb Kabobs with Lemon Vinaigrette
- Roasted Lamb Chops with White Beans
- Lamb Sliders with Tomato Chutney
- Apricot Lamb Tagine with Olives and Chickpeas
Dijon and Pistachio Crusted Rack of Lamb
Ingredients
- 1 8 chop Rack of Lamb Frenched
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh Rosemary leaves
- 12 tablespoon Fresh Thyme leaves
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup shelled pistachios
- 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs 1
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter softened
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together the rosemary, thyme and olive oil. Salt and pepper the rack of lamb and them rub the olive mixture on the lamb. Let marinade in refrigerator for 2 hours. Bring to room temperature before cooking. (let set at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, preferably 1 hour)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In the meantime, pulse the pistachios in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Add the softened butter and bread crumbs and pulse until just mixed.
- Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Add the vegetable oil. When oil is hot sear lamb on both sides until browned.
- With a pastry brush, coat the lamb with the Dijon mustard. Pat the pistachio mixture onto the lamb with your hands until well coated.
- Place the rack of lamb in a roaster. Roast in oven until thermometer ready 160 degrees.
- Remove from oven and tent with foil and let rest for 10 minutes. Slice the chops into 4 servings. (two chops remain together)
Notes
Nutrition
Pistachio Crusted Rack of Lamb … It’s what’s for Dinner.
The lamb looks delicious! Cooked to perfection!!
This is so easy and looks wonderful. I make a rack of lamb with a Dijon mustard herb crust. Not too much more trouble than your delightfuly easy recipe.
Those lamb racks are fun to make – and pretty darn easy. Plus they look impressive. Thanks Adriana.
This looks really good and can’t wait to try it. I believe this is going to be a huge hit with my family. Now, I am considering of serving this Thanksgiving.
Lea Ann – I was just browsing your blog to see what you’ve been up to & I can’t say enough how delicious everything you put together looks! I of course had to comment on the rack of lamb, as that was for lunch today from the current class! I’m sure that they would attest to the labor of love that Frenching takes. Keep up the awesome work & I look forward to frequenting here for more items to try in my own kitchen!
I do admire you Frenching the lamb like that! I must admit I rely heavily on my butcher for stuff like that! Love your recipe – the combination of the mustard and the pistachios just sounds so good! Pinning and sharing on the Hearth and Soul Facebook page. Thank you so much for being a part of the Hearth and Soul Link Party!
Thank you so much April! I’ll be joining in that party more often. And thanks for all of your hard work on bringing us all together. And also thanks for that pin!
I always have my butcher French my rack of lamb. I know how to do it (and I’m not bad at it) but it’s so much easier to let a pro do it. 🙂 Anyway, love lamb, and this is a wonderful recipe — thanks.
Good looking meal LA. The lamb looks delicious.
It was Larry!