Food & Wine

spinner

Rack of Lamb with Fig-Port Sauce

Blue-line

Rate & Review

Blue-line

To French lamb bones, scrape or cut an inch or two of meat from the ends.

Pairing Suggestion

While Cabarnet Sauvignon has long been considered the classic match with lamb, there's a better wine for this particular dish: a refined Bordeaux-style Zinfandel. A big, tannic Cab might be fine with the lamb by itself but would taste clumsy with this mildly sweet sauce. On the other hand, a full-bodied, high-alcohol Zinfandel would overpower the entire dish. A Bordeaux-style Zin offers the best of both worlds: the restraint to complement the delicate, gamey flavor of lamb and the deliciously jammy sweetness to go with the fig-port sauce. Look for one from Sonoma.

Email this recipe

Rack of Lamb with Fig-Port Sauce

  • SERVINGS: 4
  • FAST

Ingredients

  1. Two 1 1/4-pound racks of lamb, bones Frenched
  2. 2 tablespoons pure olive oil
  3. Salt and freshly ground pepper
  4. 1 tablespoon minced rosemary
  5. 1 tablespoon minced thyme
  6. 1 cup tawny port
  7. 8 fresh Mission figs, halved (see Note)
  8. 3/4 cup chicken stock or canned low-sodium broth
  9. 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 450°. Rub the lamb with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and rub with rosemary and thyme.
  2. Heat the remaining olive oil in a medium ovenproof skillet. Add the lamb, fat-side down, and cook over high heat until browned, about 5 minutes. Turn and cook until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup of the port. Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast the lamb for 18 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer registers 125° for medium-rare meat.
  3. Transfer the racks to a carving board; cover loosely with foil. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of port and the figs to the skillet. Bring to a simmer, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the stock and vinegar and simmer over moderately high heat until thickened, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Carve the racks into chops and set 4 on each plate. Top with the figs, spoon on the sauce and serve.

Notes

Quartered dried figs can be used.

Variation Use four 14-ounce lamb shoulder chops instead of the racks and preheat the oven to 400°. Follow Step 1. In Step 2, brown the chops over moderately high heat, about 4 minutes per side, then roast for 20 minutes. Transfer the chops to a platter instead of a cutting board and proceed with Step 3.

Serve With

Mashed turnips.

MARKETPLACE