Greek Lamb Stew with Artichokes

From Canadian Living: The International Collection: Home-Cooked Meals From Around the World

Printable Recipe


Hands on time: 15 minutes

Cooking time:  1 hour

Serves 6

Ingredients

3lb/1.35kg boneless lamb shoulder, cut in 1” cubes

1 tbsp olive oil

3 onions, sliced

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 tbsp grated lemon zest

¼ tsp salt

Pinch ground allspice

Pinch cinnamon

2 tbsp all purpose flour

2 cups beef broth

¼ cup tomato paste

1 can (14oz/398ml) artichoke hearts, drained & quartered (Ruth’s note:  I only had marinated artichoke hearts, so I drained them and used those)

Ruth’s additions:  ¼ cup pitted cured black olives & 2 thin slices of lemon

Garnish:

½ cup feta cheese, crumbled

2 tbsp fresh Italian/flat leaf parsley, chopped

Directions:

1. In a Dutch oven (they suggest shallow, but I just used my big one), over medium high heat, brown the lamb in batches so they won’t just stew and turn grey.  The idea is to sear them and keep them juicy.  Remove the seared lamb and set aside.   Drain most of the fat from the pan.

2.  Lower the heat to medium and sauté the onions, garlic, oregano, lemon zest, salt, allspice and cinnamon, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes or until the onions are soft.   

3.  Sprinkle with flour and stir for one minute.  Add the broth and tomato paste.  Bring to a boil, stirring and scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.

4. Return lamb and any accumulated juices to the pan.  Cover and  simmer for about 45 minutes.  Add the artichoke hearts (Ruth’s note: This is when I added the pitted olives and lemon slices) and continue to cook covered for another 15 minutes. 

Serve with sprinkled feta & parsley