Grilled Rack of Lamb in a Kiwifuit and Herb Marinade

I am not a fan of kiwifruit, but others in the family are, especially the golden kiwis. There were two of these left, and they were quite ripe, so I used them as a marinade for my rack of lamb. I combined the kiwifruit with lots of garlic and fresh herbs, which gave a lot of flavour. Kiwifruit contains a natural tenderizer, so they lamb was left to marinade for only a couple of hours, as the chops I was using were from the rack, and are not as tough as other cuts of lamb are.

Cutting the rack of lamb into individual chops had the advantages of less time on the grill, and more exposure to the flavours in the marinade. I served the lamb with soft polenta and grilled vegetables.

To make the marinade, remove and mash the flesh of:

2 golden kiwifruit

Add:

4 cloves of garlic, minced

Add:

1/2 cup chopped fresh herbs, a combination of mint, chives, oregano and thyme.
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil

Remove any excess fat and silverskin from:

2 lamb racks

Cut into individual chops

Place the lamb chops and the marinade into a resealable plastic bag and squeeze out as much air as possible.

Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Cook the lamb chops on a hot, well oiled grill until they are done to your liking. I cooked mine to medium well.

Remove from the grill and rest for 5 minutes before serving.







I served the lamb chops on a bed of soft Parmesan polenta, with grilled red pepper and zucchini.

• Kiwifruit, papaya, figs and pineapple are all natural tenderizers. Use them for tough cuts of meat such as leg of lamb, pork or lamb chops, veal or lamb shank or chicken thighs, and allow them to marinate for up to 8 hours. For tender cuts of meat such as this rack of lamb, chicken breast or pork tenderloin, marinate them for no more than 2 hours.
• Try fresh figs, black pepper, fresh basil and olive oil; fresh pineapple pureed with ginger and garlic, soy sauce and a touch of sesame oil; mashed papaya with lime zest, fresh mint and olive oil.
• I used a combination of herbs, with mint being the predominant one, as I have a lot growing right now, and mint and lamb are a perfect match. Other herbs that are good choices for lamb are rosemary, parsley, basil and sage.
• If you want to leave the lamb rack whole, marinate it and then sear it in a lot pan and finish it in the oven. It can also be cooked on the grill.
• The lamb chops can be served as a canape, paired with a lemon mint mayonnaise.
• Leg of lamb that has been marinated and cooked can be shredded and used to fill wraps.