Braised Lamb Shanks with Tomatoes and Olives | Everyday Dorie

Do you remember the last restaurant meal you had before the lockdown? Yes, it was in a restaurant in Vermont on one of our ski weekends in early March. By the way, it felt like a strange distant memory. Almost like a dream. In that, my husband ordered a braised lamb shanks. It was a huge dish with a commanding presence. But it’s nothing like the braised lamb shanks that Dorie put together with tomatoes and olives.

It must be the way slow cooking meat brings out the glaze and the sauce. You know you’ve nailed it the moment you lift off the lid of the Dutch oven after braising in the oven for two hours. It is debatable whether the tender lamb that’s falling off the bone is the best. Or the winsome chunky sauce which is both sweet and acidic as well as herbaceous and fruity. Whichever is the case, this dish is every bit as delicious as the one I remember at the restaurant. Much to my delight one recent evening in lockdown to have lamb shanks with tomatoes and olives over creamy polenta for dinner. Comfort and yum in equal measure!

This dish also reminds me of the lamb shank tagine with apricots and raisins as we cooked along with David Lebovitz’s My Paris Kitchen. Dorie’s recipe is quicker and just as tasty, but requires no overnight marinade with a Middle-Eastern spice rub.

Start with browning the meat on both sides in a Dutch oven and set aside. Then build the layers of flavor with a mix of garlic, carrots, onions and rosemary under heat in the same pot. Stir in the anchovies until dissolved into the mixture. Deglaze with 1 cup of white wine. Add the remaining wine, chicken broth, whole can of broken-up tomatoes, olives, citrus peel and pepper. Return the shanks to the pot, making sure they are submerged in the sauce. Seal the pot with a piece of foil and then the lid. Finally, let the magic unfold in the next two hours in a 350°F oven.

Print Recipe

Braised Lamb Shanks with Tomatoes and Olives

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 4 lamb shanks (I used only 2)
• 2 tbsp grapeseed or other neutral oil
• fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 garlic head, loose skin removed
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 large or 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• leaves from 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 1 28 oz (794 g) can of whole tomatoes, preferably San Marzano, mashed with the juice
• 1 tbsp anchovy paste or 4 oil-packed anchovies
• 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) dry white wine
• 1 cup (240 ml) chicken stock
• 1 cup (about 150 g) oil cured black olives, pitted
• 2 wide strips tangerine, orange or lemon peel, with pith removed
• 1/4 tsp Urfa pepper or a pinch of cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes

Notes

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Everyday Dorie