I often get inspiration for dishes from wine pairings. I like rack of lamb with a red Burgundy, and aged red Burgundy can have a hint of cauliflower. And so I created this dish of rack of lamb with slow-roasted cauliflower and enjoyed it with a nice bottle of Burgundy. Slow-roasting is my favorite way of preparing cauliflower. It takes over 2 hours in a slow oven, but the resulting depth of flavor is absolutely worth it. The cauliflower is great with the tender and juicy rack of lamb. This festive dish only requires a few ingredients.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 2 racks of lamb
• 1 large cauliflower
• olive oil
• fresh rosemary
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Season the lamb with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and vacuum seal with fresh rosemary. The rosemary will not infuse the meat, but it will flavor the outside nicely (more about this in this article).

Cook the racks of lamb sous vide for 2 hours at 55C/131F.

Meanwhile, prepare the cauliflower. Preheat the oven at 160C/320F (not fan forced). Separate the cauliflower into florets and place them in a single layer in a large oven dish or on a baking sheet.

Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt, then toss to coat the cauliflower with the oil.

Roast the cauliflower in the oven at 160C/320F, tossing after each 45 minutes or so to ensure even cooking. It is best not to use fan forced heat, because that will result in unevenly cooked cauliflower with burnt edges.

Roast the cauliflower until it is golden brown, which will take over 2 hours. You could do it more quickly at a higher temperature, but then it will not obtain the depth of flavor of slow-roasted cauliflower.

Place the bags in cold water for 5 minutes after sous vide cooking to chill them slightly. This will prevent overcooking the lamb when you finish it under the broiler or on the grill.

Take the lamb out of the bags and discard the rosemary. Pat the lamb dry with paper towels and then rub the meat with olive oil.

Finish the lamb under the broiler or on a grill over direct heat.

Grill the fatty side first, until golden brown. Place the meat close to the element of the broiler (5 cm/2 inches), or on very hot direct heat on the grill.

Turn the lamb and grill the other side for a couple of minutes.

Avoid grilling the lamb for too long, because you don’t want the core temperature to exceed 57C/135F to ensure medium rare tender and juicy meat. The core temperature will continue to rise during the resting period, so if you are using a thermometer make sure to take the meat off the grill well before the core temperature reaches 57C/135F.

Wrap the meat in aluminum foil and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

Then slice the rack of lamb into cutlets and season them lightly with salt.

Serve the lamb cutlets with the slow-roasted cauliflower on preheated plates.

Wine pairing

This is great with a nice red Burgundy, preferably aged for at least 5 years, like a Pommard or Volnay.

Flashback

Spaghetti with sous vide leeks and pancetta is a wonderful pasta dish of my own creation.