Lamb Shanks With Capers And 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.

LAMB SHANKS WITH CAPERS AND OLIVES

Steps:

• 1 In a Dutch oven large enough to hold the shanks in a single layer, or another deep, heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid, heat the oil over medium heat. Pat the lamb dry and brown it well on all sides. Spoon off the excess fat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. 2 Scatter the onion around the lamb and cook until the onion is wilted, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and cook 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pan. Cook 1 to 1 1/2 hours, turning the shanks occasionally, until the meat is very tender when pierced with a knife. 3 Add the olives, garlic, capers, and parsley and cook 5 minutes more, turning the meat to coat with the sauce. Serve hot. From "1,000 Italian Recipes." Copyright 2004 by Michele Scicolone. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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.

SAUTéED LAMB CHOPS WITH RAMPS, ANCHOVY, CAPERS AND OLIVES

Steps:

• Season chops on both sides with salt and pepper, sprinkle with rosemary, and set aside for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Put a large sauté pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and swirl to coat bottom of pan. When oil is hot, add chops in one layer, without crowding. (If necessary, use two pans or work in batches.)
• Cook chops until nicely browned on first side, about 4 to 5 minutes. (Maintain brisk heat, but adjust if they seem to be browning too quickly.) Flip chops and cook to medium-rare, until red juices rise on surface, 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove chops to a serving platter and keep warm.
• Return pan to stovetop over medium-high heat. Add a little olive oil if pan looks dry, then add shallot and cook until lightly browned, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add anchovies, mashing them with the back of a spoon, to combine.
• Add chopped ramps (or garlic, if using), capers, olives and red pepper and stir to incorporate shallot mixture. Raise heat to high and add white wine. Cook rapidly until reduced by half. Add chicken broth and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and zest and turn off heat.
• Meanwhile, roughly chop reserved green ramp tops, if using, and mix with chopped parsley. Stir parsley mixture into sauce. Spoon sauce generously over lamb chops 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.

LAMB STEAKS WITH TOMATOES & OLIVES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Heat the oil in a large roasting tin on the hob. Brown the lamb steaks in the tin over a high heat, about 1 min each side.
• Add the onion to the roasting tin with the oregano. Pour over the wine and throw in the tomatoes. Scatter the olives over the top, then place the tin in the oven for 15 mins until the lamb is cooked. Scatter with flat-leaf parsley and serve with boiled new potatoes.

BRAISED VEAL SHANKS WITH GREEN OLIVES AND CAPERS

Steps:

• Make Braised Veal Shanks:
• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Pit 1/4 cup olives and chop fine. Lightly crush remaining 1/2 cup olives with side of a large knife.
• Pat veal shanks dry between paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Dredge top and bottom (not side) of each shank in flour, knocking off excess. In a 12-inch heavy skillet heat 1 tablespoon oil and butter over moderately high heat until foam subsides and brown tops and bottoms of shanks in batches, about 2 minutes on each side. Transfer shanks as browned to a flameproof roasting pan.
• Wipe out skillet and add remaining tablespoon oil. Heat oil over moderate heat until hot but not smoking and cook onion, stirring, until golden. Add garlic and anchovy and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add chopped olives, zest, capers, rosemary, and wine and boil 5 minutes. Add broth and crushed olives and bring to a boil.
• Pour broth mixture over shanks and cover tightly with foil. Braise shanks in oven 2 hours, or until meat is tender. Shanks may be prepared up to this point 2 days ahead and cooled, uncovered, before chilling, covered. Reheat shanks before proceeding.
• Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.
• Transfer shanks with a slotted spoon to another roasting pan or deep oven proof platter and keep warm, covered, in oven. Strain cooking liquid through a sieve into a 1-quart glass measuring cup and reserve solids, discarding zest. Let liquid stand until fat rises to top and skim and discard fat. (There should be about 1 1/2 cups liquid. If necessary, in a saucepan boil liquid until it is reduced.) Add reserved solids to liquid and pour over shanks.
• Serve shanks sprinkled with gremolata and garnished with caper berries.
• Make Gremolata:
• In a small bowl toss all ingredients together well. Makes about 1/3 cup.