Lamb Chops with Chicory Salad

The lamb chops with chicory salad are perfect for the spring, particularly the time around Easter. But this doesn’t mean that you should forget this recipe for the rest of the year! Quite the contrary! This recipe is also perfect for the BBQ season as the lamb chops as well as the chicory can be grilled outdoors. And of course, you can also serve them individually, maybe twinning the salad with some beef steaks or serving the lamb chops in a traditional way with some mint sauce.

The cooking time for the lamb chops varies according to the thickness of the chops. But make sure that you don’t overcook them. Serve them medium, because this is when they are juiciest and really soft.

You can apply the old “steak-trick” for determining the cooking time: make a fist with one hand. Now press the index finger of your other hand against the fleshy part below your thumb. Find out how it feels when you make a light, a medium-firm and a firm fist. Now occasionally press on the meat while it is cooking. This helps you to determine the cooking time for your steak and for these lamb chops. I would definitely cook them “medium” as they continue cooking for a bit while you are keeping them warm in the oven.

I first got the idea for the chicory salad from Jamie Oliver. He presents it in his book Jamie’s 30 Minutes Meals (Link to Amazon.co.uk). I adapted the recipe, though, by adding more garlic and including the blueberries, which I think is a nice addition.

Here’s the recipe now.

Lamb Chops with Chicory Salad

Serves 4
For the lamb chops:
12 lamb chops
5 sprigs rosemary, leaves only
8 sprigs thyme, leaves only
1 ½ teaspoons coarse sea salt
4 + 3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves of garlic

For the chicory salad:
4 chicories
8 cloves of garlic, peeled
5 sprigs of rosemary, leaves only
125 g blueberries
old, thick balsamic vinegar
good olive oil
sea salt

some fresh baguette for serving

For the lamb, chop the garlic, rosemary leaves and thyme leaves finely. In a bowl mix the garlic, rosemary, thyme, seal salt and olive olive. Spread the mixture on the lamb chops and allow to marinate for about 30 minutes (or up to 12 hours – keep in the fridge if you marinate them for a few hours).

Preheat the oven to 80°C / 170°F. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil and sear 4 lamb chops for about 2-3 minutes on each side. Transfer to an ovenproof dish, cover the dish with some kitchen foil and keep the chops warm in the oven. Sear the rest of the chops in the same way.

Cut the chicories in half lengthwise. Make sure that the leaves are still held together by the stalk at the end. Peel the garlic. Heat a griddle pan and roast the chicory halves and the garlic until tender (about 3-4 minutes on each side). Chop the rosemary. Remove the chicories and the garlic from the pan and cut the chicories into 1 inch strips. Immediately arrange on a serving plate and sprinkle the blueberries, rosemary and sea salt on top. Add a few dashes of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Serve warm with the lamb chops and some fresh baguette.

Here is the recipe for printing: