I know I’ve been fairly rib-heavy with my recipes lately. I can’t help myself. I base a lot of what I cook on what looks good that day at the market.
And when I saw these lamb ribs at the butcher, I couldn’t resist.
First, the meat was temptingly rosy and shot through with thin ribbons of creamy white fat. Second, I’ve never made bone-in country-style lamb ribs before and I love to try new things.
I mean, look at them.
After doing a bunch of reading, I decided to treat them like I do their pork counterpart: low and slow in the oven.
I smeared them with a modified gremolata, a garnish with minced parsley, garlic, and lemon peel that’s traditionally used on osso buco. Along with those ingredients, I included olive oil, rosemary, sage, a little oregano, and the juice from that lemon.
And all I can say is: Yum. The meat was rich but not greasy. The tang of the lemon was a good balance to the garlic and herbs, which formed a beautiful brown crust.
A note on the lamb
I bought the smallest package they had, which had four ribs in it. The recipe below is scaled for this amount. It could serve two to four as an appetizer, or one (hungry mouse) as a main course.
Herb Encrusted Lamb Ribs
1 1/2 lbs. country-style lamb ribs
7 garlic cloves, peeled
2 1/2 Tbls. sage, minced
2 1/2 Tbls. rosemary, minced
1 Tbls. oregano, minced
1 Tbls. parsley, minced
1 lemon, zested and juiced
6 Tbls. olive oil
freshly cracked black pepper
salt
Serves about 4
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Grease a medium-sized ovenproof dish and set aside.
Prepare the herb marinade
Mince the garlic and put it in a medium-sized bowl.
Add the sage, rosemary, oregano, parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, and olive oil. Mix with a fork to combine all ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste.
It should look about like this:
Apply the marinade
Using your hands, rub the herb marinade liberally over each lamb rib until it’s covered. Set each rib into your prepared pan.
When you’re done, your ribs should look like this:
Up close:
Roast and enjoy!
Put these in the oven at 325 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. Exact timing is going to depend on how thick your ribs are. They’re done when the juices run clearish and the meat comes away fairly easily when pulled at with a fork.
Serve immediately.
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Copyright 2008 The Hungry Mouse�/Jessica B. Konopa. All rights reserved.
