Rack of Lamb, Amaranto Crust and Chimichurri

On my weekly Saturday jaunt to the Pasadena farmers market, I purchased  (never seen before) tiny tepiín peppers shown in the photo below.  Tepín peppers are usually very hot, these only slightly.  These colorful and tasty peppers inspired me to make a chimichurri to accompany the lamb.  Chimichurri originated from Argentina and Uruguay,and is a popular sauce used with grilled meat in many Latin American countries.

The theme of my blog is “Mexican food from a California Kitchen”, so this recipe needed a Mexican element.  For this I capped my rack with a crust of Amaranto (Amaranth) infused with the stems of cilantro.  These tepiín peppers are not commonly found in your supermarket so you can substitute any other pepper.  I recommend a red or yellow pepper to enhance your visual presentation.  Let’s get started.

Rack of lamb Ingredients

Serves 2

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper 

1 rack of lamb, frenched, 6-8 ribs

1 cup of popped amaranto.  Click this link for popping instructions-Amaranto 

¼ cup finely diced cilantro stems

Chimichurri ingredients

¼ cup chopped parsley

¼ cup chopped oregano

3-4 cloves garlic , finely chopped or minced

3/4 tablespoon dried oregano

¼ cup roughly chopped fresh tepiín style chile peppers (If peppers are hot use 2 small red chilies , or 1 red chili, deseeded and finely chopped (about 1 tablespoon finely chopped chili)

Lime juice from 1 lime

⅓ cup olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Salt to taste (about ½ teaspoon)

Pepper to taste (about ¼ teaspoon)

Preparation of Chimichurri

In a mixing bowl combine parsley, garlic, oregano and chile pepper and lightly mix the ingredients. Stir in the oil, vinegar, and lime juice. The mixture should be quite wet.  If needed add additional olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.  

Preparation of Lamb

Rub both sides of lamb with olive oil then season rack of lamb well on all sides with salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

In a small mixing bowl combine the popped amaranto and cilantro stems and toss to thoroughly combine. Using your hands or a spoon, spread the amaranto  crust mixture evenly over top of the lamb, pressing so that the crust adheres to the meat.

Place the rack of lamb on a baking sheet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes to 130 F on a meat thermometer for medium-rare. Allow lamb to sit for 5 to 10 minutes before carving into chops to serve.

Serve with chimichurri.