This weekend was a test of my strength in the decision to kick gluten to the curb. It turns out that gluten is an easy thing to eat...ramen, pasta, sandwiches and almost any food that is incredibly simple to throw together are all rich in gluten. Eating well takes so much more effort in our society than eating badly. Thus I have had to blow the dust off of my cooking utensils.
Friday night a lucky dinner guest of mine got to indulge in my reawakened culinary creativity when I decided to make pesto lamb chops with garlic red-pepper risotto. All I can say is THANK GOD risotto does not contain gluten. I would also like to add that dinner was divine.
I have decided to share my culinary genius with the world. A word of caution to reading any of my recipes is that I never measure anything. Cups? Teaspoons? These are just guidelines in my kitchen. Mostly I eyeball everything, tasting and tweaking as I go. This trial by kitchen fire process of mine has made several of my boyfriends extremely antsy. "How can you recreate anything if you don't follow procedure, Elena?!"
Elena's Diary and Gluten Free Pesto Encrusted Lamb
Lamb Shoulder Cuts
Pepper
Fresh Bail Leaves
Pine Nuts
Olive Oil
Parsley Leaves
Sea Salt
Place whole basil leaves, parsley leaves, olive oil and pine nuts in your food processor. The mixture should be 1/2 basil, 1/8 parsley, 1/8 olive oil and 2/8 pine nuts. If your pesto is too sticky, simply thin with more olive oil. Give it a test taste and add pepper and sea salt as needed. Remember that pepper can really make this pesto pop.
Set your oven to broil. Generously coat one side of the lamb with the pesto and place it in the oven (pesto side up) for about 6 minutes. After six minutes pull the lamb out of the oven, turn it over and coat the other side with pesto. Slip it back into the oven for an additional 4-6 minutes.
Happy eating.
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Elena,
ReplyDeleteLove your recipe! Also had to tell you that your cooking methods remind me of Nana. She followed many recipes precisely, but a lot of others more like you. I would ask her for a recipe like beef and noodles and she would say it's a little of this and a little of that......I would frustratingly ask how much and she would say "Oh, I don't know, just keep adding until it tastes the way you want it." I look forward to trying you lamb!