The BEST Carré d’Agneau recipe ever

Or if you are being less poncy, “Rack of Lamb”. I prefer to say Lamb Carré as it sounds more exotic, less pedestrian. And this is definitely not a pedestrian recipe.

About a year ago, I was searching for a good recipe and came across this one. I know it was on a recipe website, but I have searched and searched and I cannot find it so I cooked it as I remembered it. As I was writing this blog post, I realised that I had forgotten to add the olive oil to the breadcrumb mixture, but it still worked. I think you would get a thicker crust with the olive oil.

Start by heating up the oven to 200°C (or bung on the BBQ). Take the lamb out of the fridge. Then cover a dinner plate with breadcrumbs; you want a good thick layer. Chop up some herbs – rosemary and thyme if you have them – or dried if you don’t have fresh herbs. It will taste better with fresh herbs. Mix in with the breadcrumbs, and seasonings then add a drizzle of olive oil – enough for the breadcrumbs mix to make a paste.

Preheat a frying pan on the stove (hothothot), drizzle with olive oil and chuck the lamb in. One minute on either side – time it – just enough to brown the lamb. Take it off the heat and coat first with French Mustard then with the breadcrumb mix. (I’m a scatty and disorganised cook and so I had run out of breadcrumbs but I improvised with crushed sesame Ryvita instead!)

Put in the preheated oven for exactly 18 minutes. If you take it out now it will be medium rare. A couple of minutes longer if you want well done, but really you don’t want to do that to a wonderful piece of lamb. These timings may, of course, vary depending on your oven and when you take the lamb out of the fridge. I take it out when I heat the oven, so it has time to come to room temperature. Cooking on a BBQ could take a little longer so keep your eye on it. If in doubt, test with a meat thermometer or do the Finger Test.

That is it. It is very simple but very tasty. Even if you forget half the recipe as you are cooking. You can prepare your breadcrumb mix in advance if you are making this for guests. One rack of lamb is enough for 2 people (with a little bit left for the dog).