Whenever I miss my sister, I bribe her to visit with this Pomegranate Molasses Lamb and Romanesco Cauliflower Basil Puree. It’s a fantastic dish that comes together quickly. If you have 35 minutes to spare and want a delicious meal, this should be your go-to. It’s perfect for weeknight dinners, dinner parties, and bribing sisters!
Why this Recipe Works
The marinade for the lamb MAKES this dish. It’s composed of garlic, dijon, and pomegranate molasses. It’s the perfect savory-sweet marinade, and the pomegranate molasses gives the outside of the lamb the best texture as it cooks in the oven.
The pomegranate molasses glazes the lamb in a sweet crust without burning, making it the perfect complement to the garlic and gaminess of the lamb.
In our home we try to minimize the amount of salt we eat, so this lamb has no added salt. The herbes de provence is one of the seasonings I use that make it easy to skip out on the added ingredient. However, it you like saltier food, then you should consider adding some.
Ingredients & Substitutions
pomegranate molasses – If you can’t find pomegranate molasses, you can buy pomegranate juice, and reduce it down until it is syrupy. Pomegranate molasses is not known to be sweet, but has an awesome tanginess that is tasty in stews like khoresh beh and fesenjoon, marinades, and even salad dressings like this pomegranate molasses vinaigrette.
herbes de Provence – a spice blend that usually contains Provence spices like thyme, basil, rosemary, tarragon, savory, marjoram, oregano and often a touch of lavender. If you cannot find it at your local store and are looking for a simple substitution, dried rosemary works great in this recipe.
oil – you can use any flavorless oil or olive oil in this recipe.
How to Roast Rack of Lamb
You can cook this recipe two ways: cutting the chops into double chops or leaving the rack whole. Both work great, but my preference is to cut the chops into pairs of two to get the most surface area seasoned and dressed.
First, slice the lamb chops into pairs of two, lay out the lamb, and sprinkle each side with the Herbes de Provence, and optional salt.
Next, blend, whisk, or mix in a food processor the garlic, dijon mustard, pomegranate molasses, and oil together to make the dressing. Spoon the vinaigrette dressing on just one side of the lamb.
Broil the lamb in the oven on high, until the top side is browned. This should take about 5 minutes. Then, flip the lamb over, and spoon the vinaigrette dressing on the other side of the lamb. Broil on the second side for 5 more minutes. Then turn the oven temperature to 350F and roast until the lamb’s internal temperature reads 135F. Pull from oven and let rest until internal temp reaches 145F (medium-rare). See note below for USDA internal temperature guidelines. You can do this with an instant-read thermometer.
Note: The USDA recommends 145F minimum internal temperature for lamb with a 3-minute rest, 145F (medium-rare) or 160F (medium). I take the lamb out of the oven around 135F and rest it for up to 10 minutes to get up to USDA’s end temperature of 145F because I prefer it more rare. It does continue to cook slightly once removed from the oven.
Let the lamb rest an additional 5 minutes before serving.
What to Serve with Rack of Lamb
My favorite thing to serve with this recipe is a cauliflower basil puree.
While the lamb is cooking, bring the cauliflower florets (equivalent to one head of cauliflower) and 1 cup of chicken stock to boil, covered. Steam for 10-12 minutes until tender, but still firm. Add to a blender with the 4 cloves of garlic and 1 full handful of basil leaves. Blend until pureed. Add more stock (or water) if necessary. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
More Delicious Lamb Recipes
I try to have a higher ratio of vegetables to meat in my diet, and one of the reasons I do this is so that when I do buy and cook meat like lamb, I can put the time and effort into prioritizing locally sourced, high-quality meat. I want to be able to enjoy the best quality meat that I can and reducing the frequency that I eat it and portion size allows me to do that.
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Pomegranate Molasses Lamb
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Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs. rack of lamb
- 2 tbsp Herbes de Provence
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 1/4 cup pomegranate molasses see notes for store-bought
Instructions
- Trim the fat on the lamb so there is only ~1/8″ of fat. We want to keep some fat because we aren’t using any oil.
- Liberally sprinkle the Herbes de Provence on all sides of the lamb.
- Blend or food process the garlic, dijon, oil, and pomegranate molasses. Spoon the vinaigrette on one side of the lamb.
- Broil the lamb in the oven on high, until the top side is browned, ~5 minutes.
- Flip the lamb. Spoon the vinaigrette on the other side of the lamb.
- Broil on the second side for 5 more minutes. Then turn the oven temperature to 350F and roast until the lamb’s internal temperature reads 135F. Pull from oven and let rest until internal temp reaches 145F (medium-rare)*.
- Let rest 5 minutes before serving.
One of my favorite recipes. Everyone I make it for is blown away! This is a five star restaurant meal. I usually spritz the meat with oil and broil the meat with just the spices then baste with the sauce while baking. I’m sure it is good either way. I also add a little extra Dijon to the sauce now after a fortunate mistake. Once I tried the cauliflower basil puree. It was good and made it look fancy but I don’t think it needs it.
Thank you for taking the time to share, Mark! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Pomegranate molasses and Dijon are wonderful together… I’m going to have to try it that way next time. Enjoy, and thanks again!
I agree with you