Best Lamb Braised With Green Olives Recipes

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.

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 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 WITH BLACK OLIVES (AGNELLO CON OLIVE NERE)

Steps:

• Pat the pieces of lamb dry with paper towels and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.
• In a heavy saucepan or casserole, gently sauté the garlic and rosemary in the oil over medium-low heat until the garlic is soft but not brown, about 10 minutes. Add the seasoned lamb, raise the heat to medium, and turn the lamb pieces, stirring constantly, until they have browned thoroughly on all sides. Add the wine, let come to a simmer, and cook until reduced by half.
• Stir in the olives and the dissolved tomato paste, mixing everything together, then cover the pan and continue cooking on very low heat for about 1 hour, or until the sauce is very thick and the lamb is cooked through. Check the sauce periodically and add more wine or water if it seems necessary.
• When the lamb is done, serve it immediately, accompanied by polenta, if you wish.

SLOW-COOKER LAMB WITH OLIVES AND POTATOES

Steps:

• Combine potatoes, shallots, garlic, lemon zest, and rosemary in a 5-to-6-quart slow cooker; season with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, whisk together 1 tablespoon flour and broth. Add to slow cooker.
• Place 3 tablespoons flour on a plate. Season lamb with salt and pepper, then coat in flour, shaking off excess. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. In batches, cook lamb until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes; transfer to slow cooker. Add wine to skillet and cook, scraping up browned bits with a wooden spoon, until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add to slow cooker, then cover and cook on high until lamb is tender, about 3 1/2 hours (7 hours on low). Stir in olives, cover, and cook 20 minutes.
• To serve, transfer lamb and vegetables to a platter. Skim fat from cooking liquid, then stir in lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve sauce with lamb and vegetables.

GREEK LAMB WITH POTATOES & OLIVES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Layer up half the potato, tomato and aubergine in a baking dish, scattering with garlic, oregano and olives, and drizzling with oil and seasoning as you go.
• Scatter over the feta, then repeat the layers until all the ingredients are used up. Finish with potatoes and a little oil.
• Bake for 50 mins or until the veg are tender (cover with foil if they're getting too brown). Top with the lamb steaks, rubbing with a little more oil and seasoning. Bake for 15-20 mins more until the lamb is cooked. Allow to rest and cool a bit before scattering with oregano and serving with crusty bread.

GREEN OLIVE, LEMON, AND GARLIC-ROASTED LEG OF LAMB WITH POTATOES AND PAN GRAVY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°F.
• With a vegetable peeler remove zest from lemon and reserve lemon. Pit olives. In a food processor finely chop zest, olives, garlic, and parsley with 2 tablespoons oil.
• Peel potatoes and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces. In a large flameproof roasting pan toss potatoes with remaining 2 tablespoons oil to coat and season with salt and pepper. Arrange lamb on potatoes and with the tip of a sharp small knife cut small slits all over lamb. Rub olive mixture over lamb, pushing it into slits. Halve reserved lemon and squeeze juice over lamb. Season lamb with salt and pepper and roast with potatoes in middle of oven 20 minutes.
• Reduce temperature to 350°F.
• Roast lamb and potatoes, loosening potatoes from pan with a metal spatula and turning them occasionally, 1 hour more, or until a meat thermometer inserted into thickest part of meat registers 135°F. Transfer lamb to a cutting board and let stand while making gravy. Transfer potatoes to a large bowl and keep warm.
• Make gravy:
• In a cup with your fingers blend together flour and butter. Add wine and water to roasting pan and deglaze pan over moderately high heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits. Transfer mixture to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Whisk in flour mixture, whisking until incorporated, and simmer gravy, stirring occasionally, 1 minute. With a slotted spoon remove any potato pieces from gravy.
• Garnish lamb with lemon halves and olive branches and serve with gravy and potatoes.