lamb racks with dukkah crustYou know when you have a meal that’s so good, you keep thinking about it, over and over? Well, this dinner will have you re-living every forkful for a good week.

Dukkah. Contented sigh. Oh, how how I love you. Dukkah goes perfectly with lamb, and hummus, which was convenient on the night I whipped this all up as I had a couple of jars of dukkah leftover in the cupboard post Christmas and a fresh batch of hummus.  Bonus.  This Baked Eggplant layer dish was a side dish I made by chance: I had the latest Healthy Food Guide sitting on the bench as I was pondering what to cook for dinner and there it was, a picture on the cover, calling out to me as the perfect accompaniment…. I even had all the ingredients (I did tweak the recipe a little, I can’t help myself). Sublime.

Lamb Rack with Dukkah Crust

Ingredients (Serves 4) 

Lamb rack (ideally 8 cutlets – more of you are a house of carnivores – I used two so we had 4 cutlets each… Oink!)
2 tablespoons plain flour
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 c dukkah
2 beaten eggs
4 heaped tablespoons of hummus

  • dukkah crust lamb recipePreheat oven to 200 degrees (normal bake).
  • Place flour + salt, and dukkah on two seperate plates.  In a shallow dish beat the eggs.
  • Coat the lamb rack in the seasoned flour, dip into the egg,  coat in the dukkah. Get stuck in with your fingers and press the dukkah into the lamb. Place the lamb in a small roasting dish (I like to line mine with baking paper first).
  • Set lamb aside while you prepare the eggplant dish.
  • When the eggplant dish is prepared and at the stage where it’s ready to go in the oven, put the lamb in to roast at the same time for 25 minutes for medium (adjust the cooking time to your suit your preference).  When cooked cover lightly with foil and rest for at least 5 minutes.
  • To serve: Place a tablespoon of hummus on a plate, cut lamb into cutlets and place on top of the hummus. Dish up a large spoonful of the Baked Eggplant Layer.

baked eggplant layerBaked Eggplant Layer

1 eggplant, thinly sliced
Olive oil
1 tablespoon oil
1 red onion, finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
400g can chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons sundried tomato pesto
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
1/4 c fresh basil – chopped
1/2 c grated cheese (I used a mix of Parmesan and Edam)

  • Preheat the oven to 200 degrees (same temperature as you’ll cook the lamb, handy huh?).  Line a baking tray with baking paper. Place the eggplant slices on the baking paper and, using a pastry brush, brush both sides of the eggplant liberally with oil.  Bake for 20 minutes or until light brown.
  • Heat a tablespoon of oil in a medium sized non-stick pan and cook onion and garlic until softened.
  • Add tomatoes, pesto, chilli flakes and sugar (the sugar is necessary to take the acidity out of the tomatoes and balances the sauce out beautifully).   Simmer for five minutes until sauce has reduced.  Add most of the basil, season to taste.
  • Place one third of the eggplant slices in a lightly greased shallow oven proof/casserole dish.  Spoon over a third of the tomato sauce. Repeat so you finish up with the last of the tomato sauce. Sprinkle over the cheese and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown (bung it in the oven to cook at the same time as the lamb!)
  • When cooked let rest for 5-10 minutes to ‘settle’ before serving – this makes it much easier to dish up.
  • Serve garnished with the remaining fresh basil.
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