Crown Roast of Lamb: Elegant Easter Dinner |Cooking With Amanda

While lamb is one of my favorite meals, I don't make it often, but when it comes to Easter dinner, I consider it a must. I honestly don't care if I'm the only one eating it, I am having lamb for Easter dinner! Making a crown roast of lamb makes a beautiful presentation for this special Sunday Supper and it's much easier to make than you may think.

Many of the high end grocery stores will carry racks of lamb already made into a crown and ready to go at this time of year. If you can't find one ready-made, fear not! While it may be intimidating, most racks of lamb come already Frenched, or you can ask the butcher to do it for you. After that, it's just a couple of ties of kitchen twine and a simple rub of garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper.

I serve this lamb with a twist on the classic Italian condiment, gremolata, usually made with parsley and lemon zest. I added mint for the traditional lamb accompaniment. You can make the mint gremolata in advance and focus on the lamb and your side dishes. After all, no one wants to be stuck in the kitchen when you are having the extended family over for dinner.

Speaking saving time, these racks of lamb will cook in just about half an hour, making for a quick cooking main dish. I referred to Alton Brown's Lamb Crown Roast recipe for cooking time and loved his idea of using a bundt pan to make it easier to keep the shape of your roast.

Serve these chops up with my favorite scalloped potatoes or potato casserole, both are always a big hit at the buffet table. Round out your menu with these Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs for an appetizer, some simple roasted broccoli and a loaf of Italian Easter Bread.

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Crown Roast of Lamb Recipe

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Ingredients

For the Lamb:

2 rack of lambs, frenched (6-8 chops per rack)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly cracked
kitchen twine

For the Gremolata:

1 shallot, minced
1/3 cup fresh parsley, minced
1/3 cup mint leaves
1 tablespoon lemon zest, roughly one lemon's worth
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
salt and pepper

Directions

For the Lamb:

Heat oven to 375°F.
Lie the rack of lambs end to end and join the racks by tying the end bones with kitchen twine as close to the lamb meat as possible.
Form the racks into a crown with the meat on the inside, the fat side out, and tie the other two end bones together. Wrap a large piece of twine around the whole crown in the center of the meaty part and tie tight to help maintain the circular shape.
Combine the olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Rub the outside of the crown with mixture and place the lamb in a baking pan or bundt pan.
Bake 35 minutes or until an instant read thermometer reads 130°F (for medium rare).

For the Gremolata: