Serve this complete meal for two for a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner.  It requires little advance preparation and minimal clean-up, leaving you with plenty of time and energy to enjoy a proper “thank you” for your culinary efforts.

Roasted Rack of Lamb

1 Rack (8 ribs) of lamb, frenched (about 1.25 lbs)
2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil, plus additional for roasting potatoes
3 large cloves of garlic, minced
¼ cup parsley, chopped
1 Tbs. fresh thyme, chopped or ½ tsp. dried thyme
½ tsp. dried oregano
Juice of ½ lemon (about 2 Tbs.)
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. fresh-ground black pepper
½ lb. Yucon gold or other potatoes (about 6 small), thinly sliced length-wise

1.            Combine olive oil through salt and pepper in a zip lock bag.  Add lamb and marinate, turning bag occasionally, for at least ½ hour or up to 1 day in advance.  (Place bag in a medium casserole to prevent drips).

2.            Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Remove lamb from marinate and place in the center of a roasting pan coated with olive oil.  Stack potato slices on either side of the lamb and drizzle with additional olive oil, salt and pepper.  Place roasting pan in the top third of the oven and roast for 20 minutes, removing pan from oven half way through to flip potatoes.  After 20 minutes, remove lamb from pan and place the rack on a plate.  (After resting, lamb will be medium-rare; if you prefer more well done meat, cook for an additional 5 minutes for medium or 10 minutes for medium-well).  Tent lamb with tin foil and let it rest (covered) for 10 minutes.  Spread potatoes into a single layer and return potatoes to oven, continuing to cook until they are medium brown and slightly crispy.  Cut rack of lamb in half and divide between two plates, along with the potatoes.

• Variation:  You can easily add a vegetable to this one-pan dish, such as green beans or spinach.  To make green beans: Add trimmed green beans to the roasting pan after removing the lamb from the pan and cook, along with the potatoes, for 10 minutes.  To make spinach: Remove potatoes from roasting pan when they are done cooking, place 1 bag of prewashed spinach in the roasting pan (not over a heat source – the pan is hot enough from the oven to wilt the spinach), and toss the spinach in the pan until it is fully wilted.  Sprinkle vegetables with salt and pepper and serve along with lamb and potatoes.