Grilled lamb chops with rosemary & garlic recipe

These grilled lamb chops are marinated in a simple dressing of olive oil rosemary and garlic to deliver a classically delicious flavour. Pan-fry or grill over a flame for the best results.

There are so many delicious flavour directions you can go with lamb chops, like Indian or Moroccan, but I love the simplest of flavours with them too, Italian style. I decided to make a marinade with olive oil, garlic, lemon and rosemary, and let them hang out in that for a few hours. Overnight would be optimal.

I decided to pan-fry them on my griddle pan and serve them on a bed of fluffy cauliflower ‘couscous’, which is my new favourite thing. If you missed my post on this a while back you can check it out here. It really has to be the cleverest way to trick your body into thinking it’s eating a carb. I can easily eat half a head of cauliflower in one sitting.

I added a tablespoon of chopped preserved lemon which made it all the more delicious. I used my own preserved lemons – which must be about 2 years old now and for some reason, I didn’t blog about them. Big mistake. This is a preserved item I will never go without, and making your own is so easy, it just takes time for them to mature.

I roasted a batch of beautiful baby vegetables – not because I particularly prefer them but because they are just so damn pretty. Choosing looks over taste was a bit of a mistake here because apart from the baby beetroot (which I used in another recipe) and the carrots, the vegetables were a little stringy and disappointing.

Baby fennel is just not nearly as juicy and flavoursome as ‘adult’ fennel and has a very strong aniseed taste.

I also decided to whip up a simple harissa and creme fraiche sauce to dip the chops into.

My roast carrot and barley salad with pickled sultanas would work perfectly with these lamb chops.

Prep Time:15

Cook Time:30

Ingredients

6 lamb chops 550 - 600g
juice of 1/2 - 1 lemon

Marinade:

zest of a lemon
3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
2 sprigs rosemary
1 T chopped rosemary

Cauliflower couscous:

1 medium head of cauliflower
2 T olive oil
1 T preserved lemon
1 t cumin
2 t chopped parsley
pinch of dried chilli flakes optional
Sea salt and pepper

Harissa creme fraiche sauce:

1/2 cup creme fraiche
2 - 4 t harissa paste depending on how strong you like it
1 T good quality mayonnaise preferably homemade

Instructions

Make the marinade with the above ingredients and pour this over the lamb chops in a shallow dish. Allow this to soak in for a few hours or overnight.
Roast your vegetables by placing a layer on a baking sheet or tray, and drizzle over some olive oil. I like to season with sea salt and pepper and scatter over a few thyme leaves. Roast in an oven that has been preheated to 180 - 200C, and roast until tender and just starting to caramelise. I normally give the pan a shake around halfway through, and sometimes I turn the vegetables over.
You can make the cauliflower 'couscous' in advance and reheat it in the microwave just before serving, or make it just before serving, it cooks fairly quickly. Follow the recipe for it here, and add in the preserved lemon, parsley and seasoning at the end.
Heat a griddle pan or get coals in a fire to the right temperature and grill the chops on both sides for a few minutes until they are done. Baste any remaining marinade over the chops towards the end of their cooking time.
The time it takes to cook them will depend on the thickness of the chops. Remove from the heat and set aside. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over and season with salt and pepper.

Servings: 4

Author: Sam Linsell

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14 Comments

Sjoe – All of these elements looks amazing – sure it tasted great too! Very very nice Sam!

Thanks Anina, the cauliflower ‘cous cous’ with preserved lemon was pretty amazing (I could eat this all the time) and it went really well with the lamb.

Sam, this is totally my kinda food! Looks fabulous! I’m doing a shoot on how to make preserved lemon tomorrow – isnt’ it just the most amazing thing? My fav new find this year. 🙂

Hi Ilse, it is just the best and so ridiculously easy to make. Mine is really so soft and syrupy now (old), and cant live without it in my cooking. Its definitely worth making a jar each year so you keep a selection of ‘vintages’.

I am loving this post, lamb & couscous are two of my favourite foods so I was excited just by the photos and then you mentioned my current favourite ingredient, preserved lemons. I have just discovered how wonderful they are so I am eating them in everything.
Inspiring post & lovely photos.

Thank you Sally 🙂

Such a beautiful presentation, I love your “cous cous” and you can never go wrong with rosemary and garlic lamb chops!

Thanks Laura x

I’m still timid around meat, especially lamb. (I was a pseudo vegetarian for a few years.) But this dish looks too brilliant to pass up! Even though they were stringy, the carrots certainly put on a colourful show. The things we do for the sake of food blogging. 😀

Gorgeous photos!