Rosemary and Garlic Rack of Lamb from the wood Oven

Our first night home from the Mugnaini Wood Oven Cooking School, I was excited to try some of the new techniques and tricks I learned in class.  Jacque was also excited about firing the oven and pre-heating it so that it would be ready when I got home from work. 

Tonight’s menu was rosemary and garlic Rack of Lamb over a organic Marzano Tomatoes, polenta, and a little spinach salad.

For the tomatoes I placed the following:

1 can Organic Marzano Tomatoes

1 minced clove of garlic

¼ cup pitted and sliced kalamata olives

¼ to ½ cup wine

salt and pepper

in a terra cotta round casserole pot with lid, and placed it off to the side in the wood oven.  Later in cooking I moved it to the mouth of the oven where it is a little cooler, but still hot.

I prepared the rack of lamb with a light rub of olive oil, and then a massage of crushed garlic, and another massage of fresh rosemary from the garden.  I then added a crack of salt and pepper and placed it in the oven under a roasting environment.

I forget how much Jacque and I enjoy Polenta, and how simple it is to prepare.  The polenta was simply spliced about a ¼ to ½ inch thick (call it a 1/3 of an inch) treated with a little garlic salt and placed in a pan I pre-heated in the oven with a small amount of olive oil.  When the first side with lightly browned I flipped it over and sprinkled my favorite Italian style shredded hard cheese (name intentionally left out…to let you use whatever you wish or have in the fridge) and cooked past melting to almost browned.

The spinach salad was a simple combination of baby spinach, grape seed oil, and raspberry vinegar.

We enjoyed our dinner with a bottle of  2009 Palazzo Della Torre –Veronese.  It was  deep ruby red in color, brimming with notes of dark, dried cherries, black berries and hints of dates and mocha – description aided by a Google search, I did not come up with that totally myself…I got the ruby red part on my own.

I cooked the lamb to just under 125 degrees and let it come up a little while resting.  This turned out to be a truly enjoyable meal with everything except for the salad being done in the wood oven.  Note – While the wood oven gave it a special taste, you can use a normal oven for excellent results too.

.