Spring Supper – Broiled Lamb Rib Chops with Salsa Verde
Ingredients
- 2 pounds new potatoes, halved
- Salt
- 8-12 lamb rib chops (each about one inch thick – about 2-3 per person, depending on size)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4-1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), plus additional for drizzling
- 1/2 cup mint
- 1 cup Italian parsley
- 1 cup basil
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- 1 shallot, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1/2 pound yellow string beans, stem ends removed
- 1/2 pound green string beans, stem ends removed
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons capers, drained and chopped
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 package frozen peas, defrosted (10 ounces)
- 1/2-1 cup ricotta cheese
Preparation
Pre-heat the broiler.
Place the potatoes into a pot and cover them with cold water. Place the pot over high heat with some salt and bring up to a bubble. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer the potatoes until tender, 8-10 minutes.
While the potatoes are cooking, season both sides of the lamb chops with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Lightly drizzle them with EVOO and place them on a broiler pan. Broil the chops to your desired doneness, about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare.
While the meat and potatoes are working, make the salsa verde: set up a food processor or blender and fill it with the herbs, garlic, shallot and red wine vinegar. Pulse to chop everything up, then leave the food processor or blender on while streaming in the EVOO, until the mixture is the consistency of pesto. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and reserve.
When the potatoes are just about ready, fill a lidded pan with about one inch of water and place over high heat. When the water is at a rolling boil, drop in the green beans and cover the pan. Cook the beans until crisp tender and bright in color, about 2 minutes. Drain the beans and toss the lemon zest and juice, capers and butter into the pan. Once the butter is melted, add the drained beans back into the pan, toss to coat in the lemon butter and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Once the potatoes are finished, drain them and return them to the pot they were cooked in to dry out. Add the peas and ricotta to the spuds and mash everything up together. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Serve everything up family-style, passing the salsa verde at the table to pour over the chops.
This is one of many "Yum-o!" recipes – it's good and good for you. To find out more about Yum-o!, Rachael's nonprofit organization, go to www.yum-o.org.
