Lamb Chunks With Olives Recipes

LAMB CHUNKS WITH OLIVES

Steps:

• Trim the exterior fat from the lamb shoulder or leg, and cut the meat into 2-inch pieces, removing fat and bits of cartilage as you find them. Pat the pieces dry with paper towels, and season all over with 1 teaspoon of the salt.
• Pour the olive oil into the pan, and set it over medium heat. Scatter in the crushed garlic cloves and peperoncino. When the garlic is sizzling, lay in all the lamb pieces in one layer, scatter the rosemary on top, and season with the remaining teaspoon salt. When the meat starts to sizzle, cover the pan, lower the heat, and let it cook gently, browning slowly and releasing its fat and juices.
• After about 10 minutes, uncover the pan, turn the pieces, and move them around the pan to cook evenly, then replace the cover. Turn again in 10 minutes or so, and continue covered cooking for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the lamb is nicely browned all over and the pan juices have thickened and caramelized. If there is a lot of fat in the bottom of the pan, tilt the skillet and spoon of the fat from one side.
• Stir the wine and vinegar together, and pour them into the skillet, swirling them with the pan juices. Turn up the heat, bring the liquids to a boil, and cook them down quickly to form a syrupy sauce. Drop the olives into the pan, all around the lamb chunks, then cover and adjust the heat to a bubbling simmer. Cook for another 10 minutes or so, again concentrating the juices and marrying the flavors. Finally, cook uncovered for a few minutes, tumbling the meat and olives in the pan, coating them with the sauce.
• Serve immediately, right from the skillet, or heap the meat chunks on a platter or in a shallow serving bowl. Spoon out any sauce and olives left in the pan, and drizzle over the lamb.

BRAISED LAMB SHANKS WITH GREEN OLIVES AND APRICOTS

Steps:

• First off, you want to marinate the lamb shanks for a few hours to really penetrate the deep flavor; the wine also tenderizes the meat. Put the shanks in a large glass bowl and season with salt and pepper. Break up the thyme and rosemary with your hands to release the oils and toss them on top of the lamb. Add the lemon peel, garlic, cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns, bay leaves, and sugar. Pour in the bottle of wine, cover and refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours.
• Line a few layers of paper towels on the counter. Pull the lamb shanks out of the wine marinade (reserving it for later), and lay them out on the paper towels, cover with more paper towels and pat the meat dry really well. Put the flour in a large shallow platter and season it with a fair amount of salt and pepper. Dredge the lamb shanks in the seasoned flour; tapping off the excess.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Place a large Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat and add the oil. Sear the lamb shanks, turning carefully with tongs, so all sides are a brown caramel color. Drizzle with a little more oil if needed. Do this in batches if the shanks are big and look crowded in the pot. Strain marinade reserving the wine. Add the wine, remaining 2 sticks of cinnamon, remaining 2 sprigs of thyme and the stuff from the marinade. Cook until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Pour in the stock and add the onions, carrots, olives, and apricots; bring to a boil. Cover the pot. Place in the oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
• Transfer the lamb shanks to a large platter. Spoon the onions, olives, and apricots over them. Strain the braising juices and season with salt and pepper. Pour the sauce over the platter and serve with some crusty bread.

LOIN LAMB CHOPS WITH OLIVES

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Lightly dust loin chops in flour; when hot, sear chops on both sides for a minute. Lower the heat and cook, uncovered, turning frequently, for 5 to 10 minutes depending on how rare you like them. Remove chops to a plate and pour out most of the fat from the skillet. Add olives, oregano and fresh lemon juice to the skillet, deglaze and reduce. Season with salt and crushed red pepper.

LAMB SHANKS WITH CHICKPEAS AND OLIVES

Steps:

• Finely slice the red onions and crush the garlic. mince up the anchovies.
• Combine with the chickpeas, lamb shanks, tin tomatoes, chili and rosemary in a slow-cooker or casserole dish.
• Season with salt and pepper. Cook in the slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours, or in the oven at 180C for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. You might need to add stock or water if cooking in the oven.
• Five minutes before serving stir through the pitted green olives coarsely chopped, and just before serving finish with stirring in the lemon zest and chopped parsley.

LAMB BRAISED WITH GREEN OLIVES

Steps:

• Warm the oil in a large heavy skillet or Dutch oven, and saute the rosemary, garlic and red-pepper flakes over low-medium heat for 4 or 5 minutes, until the garlic begins to turn golden. Add enough lamb to fit comfortably in the pan, and saute, turning several times, until it is evenly browned. Transfer it to a platter. Repeat until all the lamb is cooked, adding oil as needed.
• Add the wine and the bouillon cube or broth to the skillet and cook over medium-high heat until the liquid has reduced by about half. Return the lamb to the pan, add the tomato, cover and cook over very low heat for about 1 hour, until the lamb is easily pierced with the tip of a knife.
• Let the lamb sit for a few hours or overnight and reheat it. Skim off any fat, cover and simmer for half an hour, stirring in the olives during the last 5 to 10 minutes. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper and serve.

LAMB SHANKS WITH TOMATO & OLIVES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan forced.
• Toss the lamb in combined flour, salt & pepper mixture. Shake away excess flour.
• Heat oil in a 3 litre capacity flameproof casserole or baking dish. Cook lamb shanks in batches until well browned all over. Remove from dish and drain on absorbent paper.
• Add garlic and wine to the dish, bring to the boil. Add stock, undrained tomatoes, anchovies, chilli and basil and stir to combine. Return lamb to dish and bring to the boil. Remove from stove top.
• Cover the lamb dish with lid or tightly with foil and place in over. Cook for 2 hours, turning lamb halfway through cooking. Remove lamb from dish and cover to keep warm.
• Add the olives and vinegar to the tomato mixture in dish, simmer on stove top, uncovered over a medium heat for about 5 minutes or until thickened slightly. Remove basil sprig.
• Sprinkle extra basil leaves over lamb and sauce.
• Serve hot.

LAMB SHANKS WITH POTATOES, PARSNIPS AND KALAMATA OLIVES

Steps:

• Sprinkle lamb with salt and pepper. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook lamb until brown, about 8 minutes. Transfer to large bowl.
• Reduce heat to medium. Add carrot rounds, onions and celery to pot. Sauté until vegetables are tender and golden, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, rosemary and oregano. Sauté 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes with juices, 2 cups water, wine and orange peel. Return lamb to pot, pressing to submerge. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover; simmer until lamb is just tender, about 2 hours 15 minutes.
• Add potatoes, 2-inch carrot pieces, parsnips and olives to pot. Simmer uncovered until vegetables are tender and lamb is very tender, about 30 minutes longer. Using slotted spoon, transfer lamb and vegetables to platter. Boil juices in pot until thickened enough to coat spoon, about 5 minutes. Discard orange peel. Season sauce with salt and pepper.
• Spoon sauce over lamb and vegetables and serve.

SAUTEED LAMB WITH GREEN OLIVES

Steps:

• Pit the olives and blanch them in boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain and set aside. Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water for 2 minutes, then refresh them under cold water. Peel, quarter and seed the tomatoes and set aside.
• In a large, heavy casserole, heat the butter and oil over medium heat. Add the lamb. Raise the heat to high and brown the lamb on all sides. Sprinkle in the flour and stir and saute for 1 minute or until the flour adheres to the meat. Add the olives, tomatoes, bay leaves, thyme and crushed garlic. Season sparingly with salt and pepper. (The olives are salty.) Simmer, covered, for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Transfer the lamb, olives and the liquid to a deep serving bowl. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley. Serve with boiled potatoes or steamed rice.

LAMB WITH OLIVE & HERB STUFFING

Steps:

• To make the stuffing, heat 1 tbsp oil in a small frying pan over a medium heat and cook the shallot for 5 mins until soft. Tip the oil from the anchovies into the pan. Roughly chop the anchovies and add these along with the garlic. Cook for a few minutes until the garlic has softened and the anchovies have started to break down. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for a few minutes.
• Combine the olives, capers, lemon zest and juice, the breadcrumbs, herbs, apricots and pistachios in a bowl, then tip in the shallot mixture and stir to combine. Season. Bring together with your hands - if it's too dry, add the rest of the oil. It will be slightly loose, but should stick together when squeezed.
• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Season the lamb all over and cover the exposed bones with foil to prevent them burning. Pack the centre of the crown with the stuffing, then cover with a disc of foil. If you can't fit all the stuffing into the crown, spoon the rest into an ovenproof dish and bake alongside the lamb. Roast for 40 mins for rare, or until the internal temperature reaches 55C on a meat thermometer. (Or, roast for 50 mins for medium or 55 mins for well done.)