I have always liked the taste of lamb, the slight gaminess and richness. Lamb chops are something my mom has always made for our family. Traditionally though, they are served with mint jelly. While I do like mint… and herbs in general with lamb; I am not a mint jelly fan.
As an alternative these chops are served with a mint and walnut pesto, which picks up on the great combination of mint, rosemary and lamb without the cloying sweetness and artificial taste of commercial mint jelly.
Enjoy!
Grilled Lamb with Mint and Walnut Pesto
Ingredients
Lamb
8 single lamb chops
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 large fresh rosemary sprigs
4 garlic cloves, peeled, crushed
Pesto
1 cup fresh Italian parsley
1 cup fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup walnuts, lightly toasted
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 small garlic clove, peeled
2 1/4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Preparation
For Lamb
Combine all ingredients in large bowl; turn lamb to coat with oil. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour.
For Pesto
Blend first 5 ingredients in processor to coarse puree, occasionally scraping down sides of processor. Mix in lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl.
Heat a grill or grill pan ( I actually used the grill pan) over high heat. Add lamb chops with rosemary garlic mixture. Cook for 4 minutes per side for medium rare. Serve with pesto.
Glad to hear your first week went well! Beautiful recipe and photos!
Thank you!
Like the mint/walnut choice rather than the old basil/pinenut! Shall try it this way! Oh, and ‘hi’ from Australia, about 100 km south of Sydney! Great to have found your blog!!
Thanks, Eha!
you make me feel ashamed of my cooking. Nevertheless, well done! =)
I am sure your cooking is great, but thanks!
Followed some posts coming from angsarap.net and ended up here. You got great stuff! Keep on sharing
Will probably sift through some of the recipes you have here and give one a try. Thanks! – Ray
Great…I hope you do try one. If so let me know what you think!
I so agree with you mint jelly not with lamb chops. Recipe sounds great.
Yes, the jelly really is just not my favorite but thanks!
looks delicious. Have you ever tried cilantro with lamb? Just wondering if it would go or not–
Thank you! Honestly I am really not a huge cilantro fan. However, I am sure that it would be great if you like the flavor of cilantro. For example there is parsley in the pesto and typically I find that cilantro and parsley can be substituted fairly effectively in recipes. Though the flavor is clearly different. If try that let me know what you think…cilantro is definitely beginning to grow on me!
Your palate is absolutely amazing.. especially at 14 years of age. These lamb chops look absolutely wonderful. So much so that I will be featuring this post on my blog as one that inspires me on Saturday
. Congrats!
Wow, thank you so much! I will be sure to check it out on Saturday…thanks again!
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I can’t tell you how impressed I am.. my 18 year old is just beginning to show some interest in cooking, nothing of this caliber of course! The flavors sound wonderful and I love your photography!
Thank you. I really loved the idea of the bite out of the lamb…glad you did too!
I am a lamb fan myself but it was a late life discovery for me. I really enjoy the gaminess aspect because you know it will stand up to a great sauce or really bold seasoning choices. I like that you didn’t go with straight mint here. Every time I look at your blogs I am amazed by your palate cause clearly that influences your flavor combinations. Looks amazing!
That is really true about lamb. Thanks so much for the flattering comment, but I really am glad to hear that my palate really does shine through in what I make.