Roasted French-trimmed lamb with orange, garlic and rosemary rub

• By Nick Camilleri Preziosi and Alex Mattei

This is a knockout dish, and the best bit is that it looks complicated, but isn’t. It is very simple to make. Ask at the Arkadia butcher’s shop for French trimmed lamb or call Zammeats on 274 052 05, where the meat is trimmed slightly from the bone. Serve it with a trio of colourful dips of your own choosing.

You will need:

A large clove of garlic (minced), two oranges (zest only), two tablespoonfuls of rosemary (finely chopped), a tablespoonful of rock salt, a teaspoonful of cracked black pepper, three tablespoonfuls of extra virgin olive oil, a rack of fresh Scottish lamb (chine-bone removed, eight to nine chops, French-trimmed for a more formal presentation).

Preheat the oven to gas mark 5/190C. Combine the garlic, orange zest, rosemary, salt, pepper and olive oil in a small bowl, and stir until all is amalgamated. Rub the lamb with the garlic mixture, gently pressing it into the meat. Place the rack, meat side up, on a baking-sheet with a rim, or in an oven-tin. Allow it to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Roast it in the centre of the oven: 15 to 20 minutes if you prefer it rare, 20 to 30 minutes for medium-rare, or 25 to 35 minutes for medium. Don’t overdo the cooking. Slice the rack into cutlets at the table, and serve with the three dips. We used guacamole, tomato salsa and tsatsiki.