Lamb Lollipops with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

In my humble opinion, lamb is a gift from the gods. It is juicy, tender, tasty, and best of all, diverse. Any kind of flavor combination, from Greek to Chinese, can be added to lamb making it a very fun meat to cook with. I decided to give the lamb a little spice from our neighbors to the south, Mexico, as well as a sauce that sets off the flavor perfectly while not being overpoweringly spicy. So this week, indulge yourself a little and have some lollipops.

Ingredients

Sauce

6 red fresno peppers

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 red onion, chopped

1 tsp paprika

1 tbsp cilantro

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tbsp tomato paste

16 oz diced tomatoes

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Lamb

1 rack of lamb

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp cayenne pepper

salt and pepper to taste

3 tbsp olive oil

Process

Sauce

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the peppers in half lengthwise and remove the seeds like you would a bell pepper. Place them on a baking pan and put them in the oven on the top rack. Cook until the skin begins to char, about 15-20 minutes. Let the peppers cool for about 10 minutes before removing the skin. Chop, then set aside.

Coat a medium sauce pan with olive oil and sauté the onions on medium-high heat until they are translucent. When they are cooked, lower the heat to medium and add the garlic. Cook for about a minute, not letting the garlic turn brown.

Pour the peppers and onions into the blender and slowly add the tomatoes, paprika, cumin, cilantro, and cayenne pepper until the mixture is fully combined.

Put the mixture back into the pan, add the rest of the ingredients, and simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve.

Lamb

Cut the meat into individual chops, directly in the middle of two bones. Sprinkle on the seasoning.

Coat a large pan on high heat with olive oil. Place all of the chops into the pan and cook on each side for 2 ½-3 minutes until brown. Place them on a plate with the sauce, sprinkle some parsley if you are feeling presentational and that’s it.

Taste Test

Splendiferous! The texture of the lamb is amazing. It’s high fat content makes for a nice soft texture that will melt in your mouth. The seasoning on the lamb is right on–not too spicy but with a kick of cayenne.

The sauce has a complex flavor. The peppers and garlic combine really well with the tomato flavor with none of the flavors overpowering the other. The original recipe I came up with for the sauce was a tad bland, so I tinkered with it a bit and added the paprika which really set it off, especially when combined with the lamb. The overall taste isn’t as spicy as you would think but the cayenne really rounds out the flavor making this dish one of my favorite Recipe Corner dishes yet!

Leftover Quality

The sauce thickened a bit overnight, much to my chagrin. It was good, but, like most foods, not as good as it was fresh. The lamb lost a bit of the juiciness, but the flavor held true.