My Parents' Favorite Lamb

For my first weekend in back in the New York City metro area, I made a pistachio crusted, proscuitto wrapped rack of lamb, served over a pomegranate couscous cake and pan seared swiss chard, finally garnished with a proscuitto rosette. My parents went as far to say it was the best they ever had...which might be a stretch, but it was pretty damn good!!!

Before the meal, we started with a crab cake starter, briefly seared over blanched asparagus with a drizzle of olive oil. Very yummy, very easy, perfect to tide over the hungry masses :)

For the paste and pesto for the lamb, I put a handful of pistachios (deshelled, unsalted), thyme, rosemary, oregano, garlic, olive oil and a dash of honey in a food processor and blended until it became a thick paste. Seperate half of the paste all over the trimmed lamb (on the meat!!!!), wrap in proscuitto, and rub more of the paste on top of the proscuitto. Set aside the remaining half of the paste for later. It is extremely important to trim the lamb before rubbing it in the pesto, because you want to make sure all the flavor gets into the meat and isn't blocked by membranes or excess fatty layers.

(Trimming off excess fat and membrane)

(Sooo much goodness!)

(Prepped lamb)

I heated the oven to 375 and cooked the lamb until between 130 and 140 F on the meat thermometer. Depending on whether you're on a bake, convection bake, and your oven in general, this timing can vary. This brings the lamb to a perfect medium rare (ideal temperature for tender, juicy lamb).

Once out of the oven, allow the rack to sit covered between 10-15 minutes. The procuitto will be crispy on the outside, and depending on the style of meat, may stick better or worse to the meat. In this case, the proscuitto was so crispy that it fell off, so I crumbled in and placed it on top of the sauteed chard.

To plate, I used a cookie cutter to shape couscous tossed with pomegranates firmly into a cake shape on the plate. With the leftover pesto paste, I added more olive oil to allow it to become more of a pesto sauce. Using a spoon, I dragged a streak of the sauce around the outside edge of the plate, opposite the cake. I topped the cake with a handful of the sauteed swiss chard (in garlic and pomegranate seeds) and sprinkled the crumbled proscuitto that had wrapped the lamb. I laid the lamb 'popsicles' in a fan on top of everything, and finally rolled a proscuitto rosette for garnish.

I served the lamb with a bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape-a big, jammy, gamey, intense Rhone wine which paired with the gamey and herbacious notes of the dish.

Finally, I finished the meal with a selection of cheeses, raspberry and balsalmic vinegar. I chose a five year aged gouda, a roquefort style blue and a goat milk blue called Persille (made with parsley).

Until next time, eat right, drink well, and laugh at dirty jokes.