Jarrets D'Agneau a la Grecque
Greek lamb shanks with orzo: lamb roasted with garlic slivers, oregano, cinnamon, and tomatoes, then finished over orzo that cooks in the pan juices. One-pan Mediterranean Sunday supper.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
1 hrsREADY
1 hrsJarrets d’agneau a la grecque is French for “lamb shanks Greek style," and the dish lives at the crossroads of French restaurant technique and rustic Greek home cooking. Slow-roasted lamb shanks get studded with garlic slivers, dusted with oregano and a whisper of cinnamon, then finished over orzo that cooks right in the same pan, soaking up every drop of the lamb’s roasting juices.
Studding the lamb with garlic is the technique to focus on. Tiny garlic slivers tucked into natural seams or small cuts in the meat melt as the shanks roast, seasoning the lamb from the inside out. It’s a French old-school move that adds depth no surface seasoning can match.
A pinch of cinnamon is the Greek tell. It’s not enough to taste as a spice, but it gives the lamb a warmth you’d struggle to identify if you didn’t know it was there. The same trick shows up in classic Greek dishes like pastitsio and stifado.
The orzo finish is what makes this a complete one-pan meal. After the lamb shanks roast for over an hour, you add stock to the pan and stir in dry orzo. The pasta cooks for the final 15 minutes in the lamb-flavored liquid, absorbing all that savory roasting glaze.
Chef Tips
- Trim aggressively. Lamb shanks come with a fair amount of fat and a thick membrane that’s worth removing for a cleaner finished sauce.
- Don’t crowd the pan. Shanks need air around them to brown properly.
- Pull at internal temperature of 195°F (90°C) for fork-tender, falling-off-the-bone meat. Less than that and they’ll be tough.
- The 5-minute rest under foil at the end is critical for the orzo to finish absorbing liquid.
Variations
- Swap orzo for pearl couscous or farro for a heartier grain finish.
- Add a handful of pitted Kalamata olives when the orzo goes in for a brinier version.
- Stir a tablespoon of tomato paste into the pan juices for a deeper, redder sauce.
Ingredients
seeded, coarsely chopped, or 2 c canned, with liquid, coarsely crushed
Directions
Preheat oven to 400℉ (200℃).
Using a sharp paring knife, remove as much of the fat, sinew and translucent membrane as possible from the lamb shanks.
Insert garlic slivers into shanks, either by finding natural divisions in the meat or by cutting small incisions. Salt and pepper generously.
Arrange lamb shanks in roasting pan, strew on onion slices, and drizzle olive oil over all. Roast in the oven for 25 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the lamb with oregano, and cinnamon then spoon tomatoes onto the lamb, mounding up the tomatoes on each shank.
Pour the white wine around the meat and return the pan to the oven.
Roast for an additional 45 minutes. Remove lamb shanks from the pan and set aside. Add chicken stock to the pan, stirring.
Stir in the orzo. Arrange the shanks on top of the orzo and baste them with some of the stock.
Return the pan to the oven. Cook until pasta is just tender and nearly all of the liquid has been absorbed (about 15 minutes).
Remove from the oven, cover pan tightly with aluminum foil, and let stand about 5 minutes. Serve hot with grated cheese.
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