Roasted Lamb Rumps with Mint Salsa Verde & Yoghurt Sauce

I love using lamb rumps, as individual serves they’re quick to cook and easy to plate. This recipe came from one of the early Masterchef series and it’s become a firm favourite. If you are anywhere near a branch of Costco, they sell lamb rumps in cryovac packs of six which are very well priced … I try and always have some on-hand in the freezer.

This recipe also works well with a butterflied lamb leg, cook it the same way, browning on the stove top first, and then transferring to the oven for for about 40 - 45 minutes, or cook it entirely on the BBQ.

Ingredients

• 6 x 200-250g lamb rump

The Marinade

• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 160ml olive oil

Mint Salsa Verde

• 1 clove garlic
• 6 anchovy fillets
• 1 1/2 tbs capers
• 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley
• 1 bunch mint leaves
• 160ml olive oil
• 1 lemon, zested, juice to taste

Yoghurt Sauce

• 200g Greek style yoghurt
• 1 1/2 tbs Tahini ( sesame seed paste)
• 3 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• pinch salt
• pinch sugar

Method

The Marinade

1. Combine all the dry spices and crushed garlic together with the olive oil.

The Lamb

2. Trim any silver sinew from the rumps. Spread the marinade over the lamb rumps, season with salt and pepper and seal in a ziplock bag. Refrigerate until ready to cook. This can be done a day ahead. Make sure the meat is at room temperature before cooking.
3. Pre-heat oven to 190C or the BBQ
4. Heat a large frypan over medium high heat. Brown the meat well on both sides, about 5-8 minutes.
5. Transfer to an oven tray and roast the lamb for about 12- 15 minutes, depending on whether you like it rare or medium.
6. Remove from the oven and set it aside to rest for about 10 minutes.
7. Alternatively, cook the rumps on a covered BBQ.

Mint Salsa Verde

8. In a food processor, blitz the parsley, mint, garlic, anchovies, capers and lemon zest.
9. Add the oil and lemon juice and pulse to combine.
10. Store in an airtight container in the fridge until needed. It lasts for at least 3 days, so make it ahead of time.

Yoghurt Sauce

11. Combine all the ingredients, stir well.
12. Refrigerate in an airtight container until needed. This will keep for about 3 days.