Lamb With A Pesto Crust

SERVES: 4

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 35-40 minutes

Ingredient

500 g (1 lb) new potatoes
6 baby orange peppers, halved and deseeded
8 shallots, peeled and halved
3 bulbs baby fennel, trimmed and quartered
6 baby zucchini, halved
300 g (10 oz) butternut squash, seeded and sliced
6-8 garlic cloves
8 tbsp Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Handful basil leaves
25 g (1 oz) pine nuts
2 garlic cloves, French trimmed
2 racks of lamb, French trimmed
Flat parsley to garnish

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Place all the vegetables in a large roasting pan. Drizzle over 4 tbsp of oil and toss to coat the vegetables. Roast for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, place the basil, pine nuts and 2 garlic cloves in a food processor with the remaining oil and blend on the pulse setting until a coarse paste is formed. Press this mix onto the skin of the lamb racks.
Remove the roasting pan from the oven and stir the vegetables. Lay the lamb racks on top of the vegetables and roast for a further 20-25 minutes or until the lamb is still pink in the middle.
Remove the lamb and allow to ‘rest’ for 5 minutes before carving into chops.  Serve with the vegetables.

Cook with:
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Filippo Berio’s classic, balanced Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Taken from the first cold pressing of the olives, this oil is ideal for sauces, marinades, drizzling and dipping.