SERVES 4-6
This is one of my favorite lamb preparations. It is one of the first French dishes that I ever made. In French, persillade literally means dressed with or containing parsley. Persillade is a mixture of bread crumbs, parsley, and garlic or shallots moistened with butter or olive oil. Patted onto the lamb in this recipe and quickly browned under the broiler, the crumbs create a crisp, golden brown crust over the meat and the parsley adds a fresh and bright taste.
2 racks of lab, each 1½-1¾ lb (750-875 gms) and with 7 or 8 chops, frenched and trimmed of excess fat
1 cup (2 oz/60 gms) course fresh bread crumbs
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp chicken stock
2 shallots, finely chopped
¼ cup (½ oz/10 gms) finely chopped fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Fresh thyme sprigs or flat-leaf (Italian) parsley for garnish
1 Preheat the oven to 450 °F (230 °C). Wrap the ends of the bones of the aluminum foil to prevent them from burning. Place the racks of lamb, bone side down, in roasting pan, and roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the lamb (but not touching the bone) reads 125 °F (52 °C) for rare or 135 °F (57 °C) for medium rate, about 18-25 minutes
2 While the meat is roasting, in a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs, olive oil, stock, parsley, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper and mix well.
3 Preheat the broiler. Pat the bread crumb mixture evenly on the meat side of the racks of lamb. Slide the lamb under the broiler and broil (grill) until the topping is lightly browned, about 2-3 minutes. Watch carefully to prevent burning.
4 Transfer the racks to the cutting board. Slide into chops by cutting between the bones. Transfer the chops to a platter or arrange 2 or 3 chops on each individual plate. Garnish with thyme and serve at once.
Serve with a leafy salad with some fruit in it. I like to serve it with an arugula, peach and blue cheese salad with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing.
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