Barbara Costello’s Pesto Rack of Lamb With Tomato-Mozzarella Salad Recipe

This recipe screams summer to me, and the star here is the pesto. It does triple duty as an herb marinade for the lamb, a dressing for the salad and a sauce for serving. And let me tell you, I have eaten it by the spoonful; it’s that good. The salad, inspired by the classic caprese, leans into the freshness of summer tomatoes and basil and the creaminess of mozzarella, with some cucumbers and nuts for a little crunch. And there is nothing better than grilled lamb. This is a must for a Sunday supper on the patio, a little more relaxed with the music of ice clinking in your glass under the summer sun!

Pesto Rack of Lamb With Tomato-Mozzarella Salad

Serves 4 to 6

Prep: 30 minutes, plus 2 or more hours marinating time

Cook: 40 minutes

Ingredients

For the pesto

2 cups packed fresh basil leaves

Heaping ½ cup (about 2 ounces) grated Parmesan cheese

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, or more as needed

½ cup toasted pine nuts or walnuts

2 garlic cloves, peeled but whole

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the lamb

2 racks of lamb (about 3 pounds total), rib bones frenched

Kosher salt

For the salad

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved, or 3 to 4 large ripe tomatoes (about 20 ounces), cut into bite-size pieces

4 mini cucumbers, chopped into bite-size pieces

8 ounces mini mozzarella balls, such as bocconcini or ciliegine, halved

¼ cup toasted pine nuts or walnuts

Directions

1. Make the pesto: In a food processor, combine the basil, Parmesan, olive oil, pine nuts, garlic and ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Pulse until a paste forms. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep in the fridge until ready to use.

2. Marinate the lamb: Pat the lamb dry and season with 1 teaspoon salt, then coat with ¼ cup of the pesto. Refrigerate for 2 to 8 hours to marinate. Place the remaining pesto in an airtight container, drizzle with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to cover and refrigerate (the oil keeps it from oxidizing).

3. When you’re ready to eat, heat the grill to medium hot and set the coals for two-zone grilling, leaving half the grill with coals not turned on. Clean and grease the grill grates.

4. Take the lamb and pesto out of the fridge.

5. Grill the lamb until browned all over, 6 to 8 minutes, moving the meat away from the heat as needed if flare-ups occur. Move the lamb to the cooler part of the grill, cover and cook until it reaches 125°F for medium-rare, 8 to 12 minutes longer. Let rest for at least 5 minutes.

6. Make the salad: In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, vinegar, ¼ cup of the pesto, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Stir in the tomatoes, cucumbers, mozzarella and pine nuts. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

7. Slice the racks of lamb into individual chops. Serve the lamb and salad with the remaining pesto alongside for drizzling.​​​

Excerpted from the book Every Day with Babs by Barbara Costello. Copyright © 2025 Motherhood Media, LLC. Photographs copyright © 2025 by Dane Tashima. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.