Crown Roast of Lamb

Name: Crown Roast of Lamb
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: french
Ingredients: 2 4-pound racks of lamb, trimmed and Frenched; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1 1/2 teaspoons salt; 1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper; 2 tablespoons chopped garlic; 2 tablespoons chopped rosemary

By Matt Lee and Ted Lee

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Rating: 4(180)
Comments: Read comments

The crown rib roast is one of the most festive and serviceable cuts of meat, beautifully proportioned and wieldy, with luscious, lean red meat at the chop end tapering off into rustic, fatty and crispy rib bits at the bone end, with a built-in handle to facilitate gnawing.

Domestic lamb is more than suitable for crown roast and with its slightly firmer texture seems to stand up better on the plate than the incredibly supple lamb from Australia and New Zealand. The local lamb is also a good deal.

Featured in: A Spring Feast for the Senses

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Ingredients

Yield:6 servings

24-pound racks of lamb, trimmed and Frenched
2tablespoons olive oil
1½teaspoons salt
1½teaspoons ground black pepper
2tablespoons chopped garlic
2tablespoons chopped rosemary

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Place a 9-by-13-inch roasting pan in oven, and heat oven to 425 degrees.
Step 2
Lay racks side by side on a cutting board so concave rib side faces up, with rib tips pointing up as well. With a sharp knife, make a short, shallow incision (not more than ⅛-inch deep) in the flesh between each rib bone. With butcher's needle and twine, stitch the racks together where they meet.
Step 3
Lift racks by rib tips to stand upright, and shape them by hand so that the ends come together to form a crown. With the needle and twine, stitch the racks together.
Step 4
Drizzle olive oil over the inside and the outside of the crown roast, and massage it onto lamb. Shower crown roast with salt and pepper. Mix garlic and rosemary and press it thoroughly onto inside and outside of crown. Wrap each exposed rib tip with aluminum foil.
Step 5
Place crown meat-side down on a flat rack in roasting pan, and roast 35 to 40 minutes for rare; let rest uncovered 10 minutes. Remove foil and place paper frills on rib tips.

Ratings

4 out of 5

180 user ratings

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Comments

Harry Lockwood7 years ago

Please treat yourself to a good meat thermometer having a remote wired readout. Relying upon times given by people who have a different oven, cut of meat, etc. is fraught with risk. Go to Thermoworks for their chef model.

Liz Kenyon7 years ago

My dear deceased sister Susie made this for us for Christmas. I must carry on the tradition! But I think I'll make it twice a year, it's so good.

Suemiller1 year ago

This was delicious and we served it just as in the photo with the mashed potatoes in the middle. The sizes of the racks of lamb in the recipe seem larger than what is usually available - we had 3.5 pounds total for three racks. We mixed all of the herbs, oil and garlic together into a paste and spread it onto the meat, let it sit all day before roasting. Perfection!

Suemiller1 year ago

Dumela4 years ago

Where can you get a single 4lb rack of lamb???? I assume this is a typo, and you should get in total 4lbs of lamb. I see a rack generally weighing 1.5 to 1.7 lbs.

Steve Shiflett7 years ago

So easy - and so delicious!

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