Jamie Oliver has shared his lamb chops recipe, telling people to add one unusual ingredient. The TV cook described the meal as “beautiful” and “a real treat”.
The celebrity chef told home cooks they should start his recipe by scoring the fat of the lamb chops and seasoning them with sea salt and black pepper. Then, they should line them up, like a rack, and sit them together, fat edges down, in a large shallow casserole pan on a medium-high heat. The chops should be left for 5 minutes to render and crisp up. Then, cooks should trim and add whole baby carrots (halving any larger ones) and unpeeled garlic cloves, turning the carrots regularly.
From there, Jaime says to gently turn the chops onto their sides to cook for 2 minutes on each side, or until they’re golden on the outside but still pink in the middle.
Then comes the unusual ingredient – orange peel. Jamie says when this comes into contact with the lamb fat, it’s “another story”, going “chewy and sweet and perfumed and delicious”.
Peel strips of zest from one orange. He said they should be sprinkled into the pan with the thyme sprigs, and tossed them all together for just 30 seconds to get the flavours going.
The chops should then be removed to a plate to rest, and the juice from three oranges should be squeezed into the pan.
Then, the juice should be let to bubble and reduce until sticky, before quickly tossing the lamb back in with its resting juices, then “hey presto, time to dish up”. The dish can be served with a carb of choice and greens.
This recipe was originally aired on Jamie’s Quick and Easy Food (2017) and is part of Jamie’s book, Five Ingredients – Quick and Easy Food.