Ingredients

Serves 4
Ingredients
2 x 6 boned rack of lamb on a French trim 2 large potatoes ideally Maris Pipers
200ml lamb roasting juices 14 sprigs fresh thyme
80g shelled green pistachio nuts (shelled) 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary finely chopped
250g butter 250g whole green beans topped & tailed
2 large globe artichokes Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
¼ peeled celeriac bulb cut into small dice 4 garlic confit (garlic cloves cooked in goose fat)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
600ml chicken stock
4 garlic cloves crushed
3 tablespoons double cream
Lamb Roasting Juices
300-500g of lamb trimmings. Heat a heavy based pan with a little oil and fry the lamb with 2 shallots, roughly chopped. Keep stirring and cooking until the meat and shallots turn dark brown then pour in about 400ml of lamb stock. Season and simmer until the liquid is reduced by ½ and will coat the back of a spoon. Strain through a sieve and cool until required.

Method

Ensure that the lamb racks are trimmed and the top bones are scraped clean. For the crust grind the nuts in a blender until quite coarsely chopped. In a small pan melt 75g of butter until it is foaming, mix in the nuts and the chopped rosemary. Set aside to cool.
Now make the lamb jus and set aside.
Make the artichoke & celeriac puree. Trim off all the leaves, remove the spiky choke and roughly chop the firm heart. Place into some cold water with the lemon juice, leave for 5 minute then drain.
Sauté the hearts and the celeriac in a k**b of butter with 1 clove of garlic for about 4-5 minutes, add 4-5 tablespoons of the stock. Cover and simmer for about 12 minutes until tender, then uncover and add the cream, check seasoning, blitz in food processor and rub through a fine sieve with the back of the spoon.
For the potatoes, heat the oven to 180°C. Peel the potatoes thinly and trim to a straight sided barrel shape, pressing down with a metal round cutter about 4cm in diameter then cut into 2 equal cylinders. Brown both ends in a frying pan with a little hot oil and then place in a small roasting dish that is about 5cm tall. Press the best ends of the potatoes onto the base so that they will cook to a golden brown. Melt 150g of the butter and pour over the potatoes, add the remaining garlic and some thyme sprigs leaving 8 for the garnish, and then season. Pour in the remaining stock which should come ¾ of the way up the potatoes and bake for 30 minutes, basting them 3-4 times until the stock has been absorbed and the potatoes are tender to the touch. Keep warm. Leave the oven on. Seal the racks in a little oil in a hot frying pan on top of the stove then transfer to an ovenproof dish, roast for 8-10 minutes, remove and cool for 10 minutes. When cooled press the pistachio & rosemary crust onto the tops of the racks.
When ready to serve, heat the grill to low and cook the crusted racks for about 5 minutes until hot and crisp.
Reheat the lamb jus and stir in a little rosemary. Lightly cook the green beans and toss in the last of the butter.
Spoon the celeriac puree in the centre of four warmed dinner plates and top with the green beans. Cut each lamb rack in ½ and place onto the beans. Serve the fondant potatoes topped with a confit of garlic and a sprig of fresh thyme, drizzle the sauce around, serve immediately.

In these challenging times…

The Staff Canteen team are taking a different approach to keeping our website independent and delivering content free from commercial influence. Our Editorial team have a critical role to play in informing and supporting our audience in a balanced way. We would never put up a paywall – The Staff Canteen is open to all and we want to keep bringing you the content you want; more from younger chefs, more on mental health, more tips and industry knowledge, more recipes and more videos. We need your support right now, more than ever, to keep The Staff Canteen active. Without your financial contributions this would not be possible.

Over the last 16 years, The Staff Canteen has built what has become the go-to platform for chefs and hospitality professionals. As members and visitors, your daily support has made The Staff Canteen what it is today. Our features and videos from the world’s biggest name chefs are something we are proud of. We have over 560,000 followers across Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and other social channels, each connecting with chefs across the world. Our editorial and social media team are creating and delivering engaging content every day, to support you and the whole sector - we want to do more for you.

A single coffee is more than £2, a beer is £4.50 and a large glass of wine can be £6 or more.

Support The Staff Canteen from as little as £1 today. Thank you.